


Love Is A Four Legged Word

by TheReluctantBadger



Series: Puppy Love [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Mutual Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, but Toby is my spirit animal, fluffy in two ways, it's normal for a girl to have a wolf for a pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2020-08-19 12:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20209993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheReluctantBadger/pseuds/TheReluctantBadger
Summary: Who knew a quick trip to the pet store for a new dog toy could lead to so much more?





	1. The Love Of A Dog

**Author's Note:**

> You, lucky reader, are witnessing my first attempt at AU writing! Congratulations!
> 
> But seriously, thank you so much for checking this out! I really hope you enjoy it! This work was inspired by a prompt from [This tumblr post](https://anniebibananie.tumblr.com/post/186659588446/nymerias-out-of-toys-and-arya-goes-with-her-to) , and the majority of this first chapter was pulled from that, so major credit goes to [Annie](https://anniebibananie.tumblr.com) , who was kind enough to give me permission to use her material!!!!
> 
> I intend for this to be a sweet little tribute to our all time favorite ship, as well as those four legged monsters who help to keep us sane in this wreck of a world. I'm setting the number of chapters to five for now, but there's always the chance that a couple more could get added on, depending on how this story flows.

“You couldn’t wait, huh?” Arya asked Nymeria, though the most response she got was the wolf pushing her big, wet nose into her palm. “Yeah, yeah I get it.”

A crisp autumn breeze ruffled Nymeria's thick fur as they walked side-by-side down the sidewalk. But Arya didn't mind. She had always loved the colder weather and walked proudly in her short sleeve t-shirt and threadbare overalls. She had often noted her affinity to cooler climates among other things that she and Nymeria had in common.

One thing they did not have in common, however, was their ability to tear apart a rubber squeaky chicken in five seconds flat. That bragging right belonged solely to Nymeria.

And so was the reason for their evening outing into town, a short brunette and her freakishly large wolf. The streetlamps were beginning to give off their soft orange glow as they passed under. Fewer and fewer people were out at this hour. Arya found that even better. She could have waited until morning and gotten the toy before heading to work, but Nymeria was a wolf after all, and wolves aren't exactly known for their calm patience. Luckily, she lived within walking distance of her aunt Lyanna's pet shop. So, out they ventured.

Reaching the small shop, Arya pulled open the door, and Nymeria strutted inside as if she owned the place. She was well trained enough that Arya rarely bothered putting the leash on, and the gentle giant was a regular enough that she may as well have owned the place.

The bell on the door jingled at their entrance, summoning a slender face to poke out from the back store room.

"Hi, Arya! Hi, Nym!" the lady called out with a smile. Judging by her grey streaked hair pulled back in a ponytail and the light glisten of sweat on her brow, Arya knew she could only be in the middle of one of her deep cleaning sprees.

"Hey, Aunt Lyn." Arya responded to her aunt with a wave.

"Sorry, I'd come out to see you, but I kinda have myself boxed in back here." Lyanna's head ducked back behind the door frame. "The new kid should be around somewhere!"

Arya was already following Nymeria back to the toy wall, curiously keeping an eye out for the "new kid". "That's ok! We'll manage!"

Lyanna was always quick to hire high school kids looking for afternoon or weekend jobs, so Arya assumed that this must be the case, and she felt a little bit of sadism swell up in her at the thought of seeing the look on his face when he saw Nymeria bounding towards him for the first time.

Nymeria was sort of a fan favorite, really. All the employees who knew her loved her because her personality was as huge as her furry body. Arya was used to hearing a chorus of "awws" and "Hey, big girl!" whenever Nymeria rounded a corner. And, once you got on her good side, the wolf gave back just as much love as she received. If you’d earned Nymeria’s love, then it was impossible to not feel sort of special.

Nymeria was hard to win over, though. She was polite when you first met her, sure, but she didn’t immediately take to people. Which was why it was surprising when Nymeria to suddenly bolted down an aisle without warning. Arya heard a deep and surprised "Ooof!", bringing her to sprint around the corner only to find Nymeria lying on some dude’s chest.

“Shit,” she hissed, jogging forward. “Nymeria!”

Except, it wasn’t a negative sort of interaction. Nymeria was licking and whining at this random guy Arya had never seen before. He didn’t seem to mind either, as he was laughing through it as he scratched at Nymeria’s fur.

After a beat, panting and happy still, Nymeria finally jumped up and danced happily around him. The man pushed up to his feet, and Arya was surprised by how tall and wide he was, definitely not a high school student. On the floor under Nymeria's fur she couldn't tell, but standing and facing her...he was sort of bulking. And now she was having to tilt her head further up than expected.

“Are you sure that’s a dog?” he asked. A hand came up to straighten his ruffled hair.

She narrowed her eyes. Obviously, her dog had been the one to start this interaction, but he didn’t have to be rude. No hello. Just a brisk question.

“She's not a dog. She's a wolf. And what the hell else would she be? A horse?” Arya asked as she crossed her arms. “I’m assuming you're the new guy.”

So, maybe she was coming on a little strong, but she didn’t like people being rude to Nymeria, okay? And also, he was kind of cute. And she was thrown off by Nymeria taking such a liking to him. She had NEVER done that before. And Arya just wasn’t a people person, okay?

“I mean…” he trailed off, eyes narrowed at Nymeria, who whined and tilted her huge head. He laughed, crouching again to pet her as she gladly came closer. “She’s very smart. And yes, I’m Gendry, the 'new guy'."

“What brings you here, Gendry?” she asked, arms still crossed.

“New in town.” He stood back up, brushing the white and grey hairs off of his sweatshirt and pants. “I came in the other day for some kibble and your aunt offered me a job. Said I'd be perfect for the heavy lifting. You know, Lyanna talks about you two a lot.”

Arya raised a brow. “She does?”

“Well, maybe more her,” he said, motioning toward Nymeria. “She said there’s nothing more rewarding than winning her over.”

“She’s usually a good judge of character.” Arya commented, feeling her own guard start to slip at the statement. Gendry did seem...nice...

Gendry didn’t seem agitated with her brash demeanor, or particularly annoyed. He just sort of seemed amused. Arya thought that might somehow be worse.

“Again, she's smart…” he trailed off, chuckling lightly underneath his breath, “So, what do you need?”

“She ripped through her favorite toy, so we need something else. Otherwise she’ll be whiny all night. And it has to be durable."

A wide grin spread across his face as they began walking towards the back wall. “I’m assuming not a plush? Not exactly durable.”

“No, she’d destroy it in seconds. HAS destroyed them in seconds." Arya watched Nymeria walk beside Gendry, and she just didn’t get it. Out of all the people who’d been in her life, Nymeria had rarely warmed up to someone that quickly. “So…you just moved here?”

“Yeah, a few days ago. Lived in King's Landing before. Just needed a change of scenery I suppose.” he answered with a shrug.

Before any more could be said, they reached the toy wall. Her aunt had it well stocked with any and all kinds of toys; all shapes and colors were represented, and most of them had already been sampled by the big beast who was currently eying them over.

“Maybe try this?" he suggested, reaching up to one of the top pegs that Arya could have never hoped to reach. His grey sweatshirt rode up ever so slightly as he did, and she simply couldn't help but to glance at the small strip of exposed back skin. Without thinking she licked her lips. And then shook her head when she realized what she had done.

"Hard rope, but won’t hurt the teeth. Definitely durable.”

“Sweet,” Arya replied as she took it from his hands. She held it down to Nymeria, who sniffed it for a few seconds before grabbing it right out of her hand and slinging it around proudly. “Well, that will definitely work.”

“Good. I’ll check you out. Come on.”

Now they were walking side by side, and it was apparent how tall he was. Nymeria strutted a step ahead of them, leading the way and still displaying her new prize.

“Sorry about my dog mauling you,” she said with a sigh, realizing that maybe she could have been a little nicer this whole time. He was just doing his job after all.

“Please. It was the highlight of my day,” he replied as he walked around the counter. “Her and you, anyways.”

“Me?” she asked with a raised brow as she passed over her credit card.

He smiled. “Yeah. Life gets pretty boring the late shift at the pet store. What would keep my evenings interesting without a passionate customer insulting me?”

She narrowed her eyes again. He laughed.

“Why are you so suspicious of me?”

“I don’t know…” Arya paused, looking between Nymeria and him. “My dog doesn’t normally like people so fast.”

“And what about you?” He leaned against the counter after handing back the card.

“Usually I like them even slower,” she said, but she was biting down a stubborn smile so she wasn’t sure she was being as elusive as she had intended. “Jury’s still out really.”

"There's my big poof!" Lyanna's voice rang out once more, the woman stepping from around the doorway. She knelt down by Nymeria who only dropped her rope for long enough to lick Lyanna's cheek. "I see you've got yourself a new toy!"

"Yeah, looks like Gendry has found her one that'll last." Arya smiled, leaning over on the counter.

"Oh thank you." Lyanna said with a warm smile. "Nymeria's a special girl. I'd have warned you better if I knew these two were coming in!"

"Oh, I managed." Gendry chuckled, cutting his eyes over to wink at Arya. It made her stomach flutter. Why the hell?

"Well, I've gotta get this finished before closing time." Lyanna announced, standing up and giving Nymeria one more parting scratch on the hips. The wolf panted and wagged her tail.

Arya turned back to Gendry, his mouth opening to say something, but the bell above the door rang, and he sighed. “Gotta…” he motioned over, and she nodded in response. “But, hey, if you ever want to…”

“I walk in the park down the street on Saturday mornings,” The words came out before she could stop them. “Me and Nymeria, that is. Maybe I’ll see you sometime?”

He flashed a warm smile as he stepped around the counter, turning around and walking backwards to go help the customer. “You will.”

Arya sort of hoped he was telling the truth. If Nymeria liked him, though, she thought he probably was. She didn’t like just anyone, after all.

********************

The wolf and her girl walked slowly up the stairs to their flat. Nymeria walked slow because she discovered that she couldn't twirl her new rope while she trotted. Arya walked slow simply because she was replaying the evenings interactions over in her head.

"I wish you could talk, Nym." Arya sighed, fishing the keys out of her pocket as they approached their door. "Then maybe you could tell me why you like that guy."

Nymeria's only response was to bump against her leg, nearly sending Arya over into the wall.

"Derpy dog." She did her best to scowl, but could only grin as she swept a knee over to nudge the wolf back.

Their flat was small, barely big enough to be called a one bedroom. But, Arya was small too, and it was just the two of them, so it worked. Throwing the door open, Nymeria waited not for the lights and boldly pushed past Arya to deliver her new toy to the large dog bed that awaited her.

Arya, however, took her time, flipping on the lights as she kicked out of her shoes, making her way into the cramped kitchen. "It's not like he's that special or anything. Just some guy working for Aunt Lyn. Lots of guys come in to work for her. But there you go, jumping him like he's prime steak!"

Nymeria tilted her head at the mention of meat.

"You didn't even do that with the last guy I talked to. And he bought you an ice cream cone!"

Arya watched as Nymeria stared from her bed. She could almost hear the wolf's response in her head,_ 'Yeah, and then I had to bite at him when he didn't take his hand off your leg.'_

She shook her head to push back the memory and opened the fridge. Soon a thick ham sandwich was made and she was sitting on the couch beside Nymeria's bed.

"I guess we'll find out Saturday." she sighed and tucked her legs up under her.

It took mere seconds for Nymeria's huge golden eyes to appear over the arm rest. She looked longingly at the sandwich in Arya's hand as her tongue slipped out to lick her muzzle.

"Oh, right! Because you haven't eaten all day, you poor neglected baby." Arya feigned compassion, breaking off a corner and holding it over.

For a huge wolf with enough jaw power to crush bone, Nymeria removed the offering from her fingers as gently as if she had taken it from a child, only chomping down when Arya had removed her hand from the vicinity. The wolf truly was her best friend, inseparable since Arya's 18th birthday when her father had given her the pup. "Someone to keep you safe." he had smiled, watching her shower the squirming bundle with affection. But now he was gone, and they were left with each other. They had seen so much together already, Arya now 20 and Nymeria barely past her second birthday.

"You know.." Arya commented, words muffled as she chewed her food. "He said he went to the shop to get kibble. I guess he has a dog? Or a cat? Should have asked."

Nymeria, who had been sniffing in the direction of the sandwich, flicked her ears at the mention of a cat.

"Or maybe he's just some weirdo who eats dog food. Is that why you liked him?? Oh gods, I bet his breath smells like Bowser Bites..."


	2. Man's Best Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who's been reading my little ficlette! I know it isn't much, but I wanted to try out this new concept with our favorite pairing. Let me know what you think!

Gendry grumbled under his breath as he tossed the wrinkled t-shirt into the corner. Delving back into the closet, he pulled out a dark blue one that looked a little nicer.

But the grumble made him realize that he had yet to brush his teeth, so the shirt was draped over the bed as he shuffled over to the adjoining restroom to brush his teeth.

Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he had woken up early on a Saturday morning. Even on a normal morning it took some time for him to function properly. This Saturday morning was special, though.

Gendry had thought himself in some kind of strange nightmare two evenings prior when he turned to see the wolf galloping towards him; and when she knocked him flat on his back he was entirely prepared to die. But even under her huge paws, with teeth inches from his neck, he felt...oddly safe. Laughter soon flowed freely as she licked his cheeks and he couldn't help but play along. Nymeria was special, he could tell, and could clearly see why Lyanna was always going on about her. But it wasn't the overgrown puppy that had caught his feelings. It was the woman who had ran down the aisle after her.

The toothbrush swished around in his mouth as he looked hard at his reflection in the mirror, as if he was going to give himself the answers. Arya was odd, so much different from her companion, in stature and in personality. She seemed so guarded. Even by the end of their interaction he felt as though he knew less about her than before. And he couldn't tell why, but something in him wanted to change that.

He spit out the toothpaste in the sink and rinsed his mouth before turning his eyes back to the mirror and running his wet fingers through his hair. Shrugging when it was a good as it was going to get, he flipped off the light and turned to his room to grab his shirt.

But he stopped in the doorway and threw up his hands with a huff. "Toby! Why?!"

The bulldog opened his mouth in what could only be a smile and rolled over onto his back in an attempt to spread even more brown and white dog hair into the dark t-shirt underneath him. Gendry huffed as he stepped over, nudging the mass of flab and muscle until Toby rolled off of the shirt, instead choosing to take his place on one of Gendry's pillows.

"Now why are you trying to sabotage me?" he sighed. Lifting the shirt to inspect it, he tried shaking and brushing it off. Finding that to be of no use, he tossed it on the floor along with the first.

He returned to the closet and dug around for another option. "I told you, we're meeting a girl at the park. That'll be fun! And she's got a friend for you!" Toby snorted and licked at his nose, a line of drool dropping out onto the pillowcase. 'Oh well.' Gendry thought. 'I'll need to do laundry anyways.'

A fresh shirt was finally produced from the dark recesses of his closet and Gendry wondered briefly at when it had been worn last before pulling it over his head. By the time his shoes were on and his wallet and phone were in his pockets it was time to head to the park. He had thought to spritz on some cologne, but decided against it. “It’s just a walk in the park. No need to get ahead of yourself, Gendry.” He said with a sigh as he stepped towards the door.

"Oh, come on." He grumbled and leaned against the front door as he watched Toby lumber across the tiny living space slow enough that you would have thought the bulldog to be part sloth. "Look, I know you like mornings as little as I do, but you gotta do me a solid today!"

Toby reached the middle of the floor and sat down, suddenly becoming interested in how the rug smelled. Gendry rolled his eyes and stepped over to sit on the floor beside his friend. His only friend since moving to the new city. The only one who had stuck with him through all the shit and drama of the past year. The only one he could truly count on.

He leaned against the dog's stocky body, arm coming over to rest on his broad back while he scratched his ears. "We gotta start getting back to normal sometime, mate. That's what we came here to do, innit?" 

Toby groaned and leaned back into Gendry. He turned his head up to drag his tongue across Gendry's chin, bringing out a chuckle and a hug from his boy.

"I promise, this girl is different."

The look in Toby's eyes could only be interpreted as complete apathy unbelief.

"Hey, be a good wingman today, and if it doesn't work out, we can always go get pizza."

That did it. Toby was on his feet before Gendry was ready, throwing the man off balance and nearly knocking him to the floor. Another amused laugh came out as he righted himself and got back on his feet.

Toby's leash was soon clipped to his collar and Gendry pulled on a sweatshirt before the pair stepped out into the cool fog of the morning.

********************

Arya let out a huff as she entered the park's front gate. Nymeria trotted over, seemingly to assure herself that her girl was safe, before trotting off after a scent on the ground. Arya took the time to glance around the park as she began walking along the path. It was an out-of-the-way type of place and people usually didn't come around this early in the morning, fewer on a Saturday morning, which was why she loved it so much. She could be alone to her thoughts while Nymeria ran as she pleased. But then why on earth would she invite someone like Gendry here? She had been asking herself that question for the past two days. She never did something like that. "Maybe you're just rubbing off on me, girl." she had huffed to Nymeria on the walk over that morning. "You think he'll actually show? Wonder if he forgot by now. Oh well, nothing lost."

The thin sweatshirt she had picked for the morning was keeping just enough of the cool air off of her skin to be comfortable, while still giving her the option to remove it once the sun got higher. It was calm around her. Peaceful. She closed her eyes behind her sunglasses and allowed her other senses to take over with the sounds of songbirds and squirrels, the scent of the dew on the grass.

Then, the sound of tingling metal. Nymeria's collar had a plate on it, not tags... Arya's eyes shot open and she turned her head to see, almost to her surprise, Gendry walking down the concrete path towards her, a plucky bulldog waddling along beside him, mouth wide open as a fat tongue lolled out. 'So he does have a dog...'

Gendry grinned and waved as he got closer. Arya returned the gesture, taking the opportunity to rake her eyes over him before tipping her sunglasses up to the top of her head. He looked nice. Nicer even that she remembered. Wow, he was actually really nice looking.

If Gendry had noticed her staring at him for what was probably too long, he didn't say anything. Soon he was standing in front of her, his hand raised to block the sun's bright rays. "Well, I made it." he finally spoke, grinning and waving again.

"Good." An awkward pause as she continued to smile, but he was smiling too. How could she have not noticed those blue eyes last time? He seemed to snap out of it, causing her to as well.

"Uh...hey...yeah...this is Toby." He nudged his leg against the bulldog who had sat down contently at his feet. "Toby, this is Arya." Toby turned his head up at Arya, a very unimpressed look in his eye.

But Arya grinned at him and said a soft “hello” as she knelt down to scratch behind his ears. And, just like that, his mouth was wide open and eyes were closed as he took in the affection.

"Sorry, he's not as impressive as Nymeria. He’s a bit of a lump, actually."

"Are you kidding?" Arya chuckled as Toby gave her palm a lick. "I can tell he's a charmer! But, you know, you didn't have to borrow someone's dog just to come."

"Excuse me?" he guffawed. "I'll have you know that Toby is my best mate!"

"Kidding." she smirked up at him.

Gendry smiled back and mumbled "Right.... So, where's Nymeria?"

"Oh, she usually does her own thing." Arya shrugged as she stood, gesturing out to the park behind her. "She'll find us when she’s done exploring."

Gendry nodded and followed as Arya began to walk forward. Much like the day at the pet store, they soon fell into an easy pace beside each other, Toby plodding along on Gendry's other side. They walked close on the somewhat narrow path, almost close enough that Arya could almost feel the sleeve of his sweatshirt brush against her arm. And, honestly, she kind of wanted it to.

"So, how long have you lived here?" Gendry asked.

"Four years, I guess?" Arya posed, thinking on her answer for a second. "I'm from Winterfell, but Nymeria and I moved here to be close to Aunt Lyanna."

"Suppose you guys are pretty close then."

Arya hummed in response as her eyes darted down to the path ahead of them. Falling into silence, the two of them continued to walk. The grass around them shone with the morning dew, the early morning fog finally dissipating completely.

"You said you moved from Kings Landing. Did you like it there?" She finally asked, both breaking the silence and changing the subject.

"Was as good a place as any to grow up, I guess. Crowded, fast paced, but summers at the beach were nice."

"I went once when I was young." Arya said softly, cutting her eyes up at him. "Wasn't too impressed."

Gendry laughed, causing her to laugh as well. It was so easy to smile when he was smiling too. "Well no offence taken here. As you can see, I'm a long ways away from there now. But, Winterfell? Man, that’s a long ways too.”

“Yeah.” She agreed, her hands sliding into her jean pockets. “I miss it sometimes.”

“Have you been gone long?”

“I haven’t been back since I moved here.”

She looked up as Gendry furrowed his brow and nodded. She waited for him to ask why. People always did, so much that she had a default answer rehearsed to give whenever it was brought up. But he didn’t. Nothing else was said, and she couldn’t stop herself from thanking him.

“What for?” he asked, pausing his steps.

“For not asking me why I haven’t been back home.”

Gendry shrugged and looked down at Toby. “We all have our stories. Don’t want to make you tell yours if you don’t want to.”

Arya felt as though a thick strap had just been taken off of her chest. She could breathe now, and move without feeling like she was going to cry. Silence came back over then as they walked on. Toby’s dog tags tingled on with his steps, and soon his pants became just as loud.

“Do we need to give him a rest?” Arya laughed, looking down at their companion.

“Yeah, sorry.” Gendry rolled his eyes. “He…doesn’t like getting out. Usually just lays around Davos’ shop while I’m out. Oh, uh, Davos is a friend of the family. He’s letting me stay in the apartment behind his maintenance shop.” He continued when Arya raised an eyebrow at the new name.

The pair found a bench soon enough, one that overlooked a large field of grass, Arya sitting down as Gendry bent over to lift Toby up onto the bench between them. Arya laughed yet again as Gendry groaned and huffed at Toby’s dead weight. She was laughing a lot with him…more than she had in a while… Her hand came up to rest on Toby’s head. This felt nice. Very nice.

Arya found herself lost in the peaceful moment to the extent that it completely startled her when Nymeria bounded up and dropped a wet stick in her lap.

"Ugh! Hey!" she huffed and grabbed the stick, dropping it to the ground at her feet. But the wolf's attention was already on the newcomers, and Arya could only laugh as she shoved her large muzzle in Toby's face. "Manners." Arya reminded.

Toby groaned and jumped to his feet to lean away, but when Nymeria laid her head down on the bench in front of him he was quick to begin sniffing her over.

“Nymeria, this is Toby, the dog we weren’t sure even existed.” Arya cut her eyes over to Gendry to find him rolling his.

Nymeria jumped up and lowered her front half to the ground, watching for Toby to accept her invitation to play. But when the bulldog snorted and laid back down, Nymeria whined loudly and flopped to the ground.

“Come on, girl. I’ll play with you.” Gendry spoke up, standing up from the bench, much to Nymeria’s delight. He stepped over and picked up the stick from the ground beside Arya, looking up to shoot her a quick wink. “Keep Toby company for me?”

“Of course.” Was all she could manage before watching him jog out into the open field, Nymeria running and dancing around him, eyes never leaving her wonderful stick.

********************

Gendry let out a grunt as he tossed the stick as hard as he could, which was becoming less and less forceful as the morning progressed. He had by no means been keeping track of the time, but a guess would have been at an hour straight of throwing Nymeria’s stick. The wolf was fast, almost always catching the stick in mid-air before it could make it to the ground. And she had endurance too, only barely starting to show signs of tiring, while Gendry’s shoulder felt as though it had been rammed by an elephant.

He glanced over to the bench where Arya and Toby sat. They were several yards away, but it almost looked like she was talking to his dog as she scratched his ears. “Lucky bastard.” He thought. “I’ll teach him to write, then he can tell me about her.” He wanted to know more and more about her, but he dared not to push her, especially after what she said earlier. Gendry felt as though every new speck of information about her was gold. She was from Winterfell. Isn’t that cold? She must know how to get through a lot. She was here because of her aunt. Why here? They were on good terms, but she didn’t act as though Lyanna was a second mother or anything. She hasn’t been back home in four years. Why?

And, gods, she was stunning. He kept finding himself having to tear his eyes away from staring into her grey ones. When he entered the park to see her standing there, he had nearly scooped Toby up and bolted before she could see him. How could a simple guy like him ever hope to get close to her?

Nymeria bounded up again with her stick, this time dropping it at Gendry’s feet to look up at him with her questioning eyes. “And what about you, girl?” he asked with a smile, kneeling to scratch her neck. “Do you have anything to share with me?”

Nymeria’s eyes continued to look deep into his as she took in his pets. The sun was high now, and the morning air was growing hotter. Gendry stood and pulled his sweatshirt off in one swift motion, his t-shirt riding up to his chest when he did. He pulled it down and turned towards the bench, intent on leaving the garment there, when he unmistakably saw Arya staring at him before jerking her eyes back down to her shoes.


	3. Fetch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than likely going to be adding another chapter(or two) to this fic! It's turning into a little slower of a burn than I had originally thought, so I hope everyone is ok with that!
> 
> As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and commenting! I always aim to please, so it really helps to know what you guys like(or don't like).

If anyone had been walking past only fifteen minutes prior, they would have been treated to the sight of Arya's face frozen in time as she sat captivated by Gendry playing with Nymeria. Toby, ever the silent comfort, had indeed taken note of the way this new girl watched his boy with such interest, and really couldn't figure out what she found so interesting with the two legged dope; but her displays of affection behind his ears and on his hips never stopped, so he continued to lounge beside her on the bench and tolerate her observations.

"You're pretty laid back, aren't ya?" she commented to the bulldog. No response from Toby, as if she expected one.

Gendry threw the stick yet again, sending Nymeria into a full gallop in it's direction. It made Arya chuckle at the sight of the wolf's tongue drooping out the side of her mouth as she ran. She knew for a fact that it had been far too long since Nymeria had enjoyed this much activity. Arya was always up for a game of tug-o-war with the dog toys, or even a lively wrestle in the grass on a warm summer’s day. But Nymeria ran too fast and got distracted too easily to take her on jogs, and Arya had nowhere near the arm strength to throw a stick for her like Gendry was. Thoughts creeped back to Gendry, who dutifully reeled back and threw the stick again. And it was not lost on Arya how his sweatshirt had ridden up ever so slightly with the movement of his arm that time, a perfectly defined hip line revealed underneath.

Here he was, a guy who had only known her for, what, three days now? And was playing with her wolf like Nymeria was his. Never had any guy, or anyone for that matter, opened up to Nymeria that quickly. Either the wolf didn’t like them, or they didn’t like her, which then meant that Nymeria REALLY didn’t like them. But Gendry _was_ the guy who Nymeria pounced and mauled with love, after all. That has to count for something, right?

"Toby, give it to me straight." she said, low enough so that only he could hear. "Is Gendry single?

As if on cue, Toby groaned and rolled over onto his back, giving off the air that he was completely done with any of the sappy B.S. what was floating around. Arya rolled her eyes and moved her hand to rub the soft underbelly of the beast. “I’m only asking because he seems like a great guy…and it seems kinda surprising if he is. You’d tell me if he had any weird quirks that were keeping him single, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?” she cooed, using her nails to lightly scratch his stomach, causing him to wiggle back and forth excitedly.

Her eyes returned to Gendry and…._oh by the Seven_….he was taking his sweatshirt off. The action caused his t-shirt underneath to ride up a little further than it had before, slipping a momentary view of a toned stomach before the garment dropped back down to his waistline.

The morning's deep blue skies were beginning to fill slowly with thick clouds overhead. The fact had been briefly noted by Arya, but only before her attention was pulled back down to earth and the man who was currently walking towards her. His muscled arms were on view now, sweatshirt slung over his shoulder. They hadn’t been on view before, or even the other night at the pet store when the same sweatshirt had covered them. When her eyes finally made their way back up to his, he was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Nym finally wear you out?” she asked, quickly coaching her expressions back into a cool demeanor.

“I think we wore each other out.” he huffed with a proud grin, dropping down to his seat on the other side of Toby. He pulled the sweatshirt off of his shoulder and dropped it down on top of Toby. The pair sat and watched as Toby remained motionless beneath it. But then Gendry glanced up at her with a half smirk and a twinkle in his eye that took a little bit of her breath away. He raised his hand, counting down on his fingers. _Five…four…three…two…one…_

Toby launched himself to his feet and shook the sweatshirt off with a deep bark. The pair hooted in laughter as the bulldog grabbed it in his jowls and shook it fiercely. He then stomped on the thick fabric and plopped his butt back down on top of it in victory. The loud howls and snorts brought Nymeria back over. She instantly lunged toward Arya, huge front paws coming to rest on either side of Arya’s legs as Nymeria inspected her girl’s face. Arya could only laugh harder as Nymeria’s tongue slipped out to dab at the tears that were beginning to drip down Arya’s cheeks.

“It’s alright, big girl! I’m laughing! I’m happy! You know that!”

But did she? The realization entered Arya’s mind as she brought the sleeve of her shirt up to wipe the remaining tears away; it had been a very long time since she had laughed that hard. Probably since before father…

“Hey, let’s keep walking.” she offered, bringing Gendry to look up from Toby.

He seemed to think for a moment. “I don’t know. I’ve probably got stuff I need to do…”

“Really? On a Saturday.”

“Fine.” Gendry rolled his eyes, but smiled in a way that Arya knew he was in.

********************

He had absolutely nothing to do on a Saturday. Nothing but sit around in boxers and eat crisps while he and Toby dozed in between television shows. But he wasn’t about to overstay his welcome, and a little part of him still pulled back at the thought of spending time with a woman, let alone a woman like Arya.

Gendry helped Toby jump down from the bench and the four continued down the concrete path. Nymeria kept jumping in front of them, intent on convincing Toby to run with her. He was stubborn, though, and only growled low in his chest whenever Nymeria attempted to get too energetic with him.

“Nymeria! Don’t be such a bully!” Arya laughed, reaching out to grab the wolf’s collar. The poor pup let out a low whine before falling in on Arya’s opposite side.

“She really listens to you.” Gendry commented, leaning to look over at Nymeria, who looked very much like a toddler who had been scolded.

Arya shrugged and reached down to tangle her finger’s in the thick fur. “Like you said, she’s smart. I really didn’t have to do much training, she just…kinda knows stuff.”

“How long have you had her?” he asked, hoping very much that it wouldn’t be too much. He still remembered the comment she had made about questions. To his relief, she didn’t seem to mind, and gave up the answer readily.

“She’s two now. I’ve had her since she was just a few weeks old.” Gendry glanced over again to find Arya’s eyes locked on her hand as she weaved it through Nymeria’s fur. It was a few minutes before Arya said anything else. “How long have you had Toby?”

“Four years.” he answered readily, almost eagerly. He was still riding the high he felt now that he knew one more detail about Arya. “Yeah, my….uh……my mom passed, and the house felt pretty empty, so I went to the animal shelter. He’d just sit there and stare at me when I tried to call him. The people there said that he’d been there the longest out of all the dogs they had. Guess I felt a connection, cause I brought him home.” He ended with a chuckle, nudging his foot over to rub it along Toby’s side before falling back in step.

“Oh.” Arya said softly. “S…sorry about your mom.”

He shrugged, head bowing down to look at his shoes kick back and forth with his steps. “Isalright. Thanks.”

And, true to form, Arya didn’t ask any prying questions. He wasn’t used to that. Girls usually wanted to know details. How did she die? Was she beautiful? Does he still miss her? They all felt irrelevant, and once he answered them, the asker always returned with the same overly sympathetic smile. “Thanks for not prying.” He returned her earlier sentiments with a smirk, looking over to find her smiling back. She reached over and gently rubbed her hand down his arm. The warm contact left goosebumps in it’s wake and he found himself wishing that he had removed his sweatshirt sooner.

“My dad gave me Nymeria. He’s gone too. Right before we moved here.”

Her voice sounded small. Gendry stuck his hands in his pockets to stop himself from reaching over to her. True, she had just done the same to him. But in all honesty, he was terrified of doing anything to prevent her sharing more. “Sorry.” He settled on the same response as hers.

They soon came to a water fountain, at which Arya stopped and pressed on the button before stepping back and allowing Nymeria to stand up against it. The wolf lapped eagerly at the small arc of cool water, flinging droplets out to her side. Once her muzzle was thoroughly soaked, she jumped down. Arya kept her finger on the button while Gendry held Toby up. The smaller dog first looked hard at the stream, then lowered his nose down to let it splash experimentally on his cheek, and finally turned his head to bite at the liquid. He succeeded in getting just enough in his mouth to be satisfied before squirming in Gendry’s arms until he sat him back down.

A thick cloud passed in front of the sun and coated the small group in momentary shadow, followed by a quick gust of cool wind. Gendry looked to the sky and pulled out his phone for the first time that day that he could remember. Sure enough, like every morning, he had three missed calls and five new unread texts. He quickly swiped them away before glancing at the clock.

“It’s already nearly noon.” He chuckled, prompting Arya to pull her own phone out and glance at the time. “I’m sorry we’ve kept you out all morning.”

“Don’t you dare be sorry.” She grinned, sticking a finger out to point it into his chest. “I was the one who insisted that you guys tag along. And, so far, it’s been a fabulous choice.”

Gendry would have done anything she asked him to do. He couldn’t really say why yet, nor could he quite finish putting his finger on what exactly had him so enamored with her in the first place, but he was smitten. Utterly.

“Well then, let me make it up to you two lovely girls by inviting you to lunch.” He smirked with a little half bow. “Nymeria, would you and Arya care to share a pizza with a couple of lowly bachelors?”

Nymeria yipped at the mention of food. Toby started dancing around his sneakers. Arya giggled. Gods, he could have died happy then and there.

********************

Gendry lead the way out of the park and through town. She knew the place he was leading her to, as it was kind of the only good pizza place in town. But Arya was more than willing to let Gendry continue in his manly duty of feeling useful, so she kept his pace as they wound their way down the increasingly occupied sidewalk. The town still wasn’t as busy as it could have been for a Saturday, but enough people had made their way out of doors that they found themselves passing through a part in the Red Sea, made of course by Nymeria’s dominating presence.

‘So he is a bachelor…’

The thought continued to rattle around in her brain, making her much happier than she had any right to. And what did it matter anyways? It wasn’t as though she was looking for a relationship. This wasn’t even anything close to a date, just two people enjoying the day with their dogs. But…he was good looking. And Nymeria adored him. And he does seem to care a lot for his own dog. And he had yet to press her to spill anything about herself….

The pizza place could be smelled long before it could be seen. Garlic and tomato drifted on the breeze, which seemed to be growing cooler, drawing the pair and their dogs towards the source. Arya felt her legs beginning to work a little faster as her stomach rumbled, and she found herself wondering if she had only just started to feel hungry, or if she had been distracted all this time. Looking down, she noticed that even Toby was walking a little faster, his mouth closing every so often to inhale the tantalizing scents.

Rounding the block finally put them in front of the small storefront. Small, but full of every charm you could expect from a small town pizzeria. With the dogs being in tow, Arya gestured towards one of the outdoor tables, bringing Gendry to nod as they stepped towards it.

“I’ll run in and order.” He eagerly announced, handing Toby’s leash over to her. “What toppings?”

“Pineapple and anchovies with no sauce.” Arya deadpanned. “And warm tap water.”

Gendry cocked an eyebrow and smirked uneasily before slowly turning to step through the door.

She made sure to wait until the door had finished closing behind him before turning to Toby and sighing. “He’s your human.” Toby looked up, his eyes responding with _‘Don’t remind me.’_ Before dropping himself down beneath the table.

Turned out, Gendry really had no need of giving Arya Toby’s leash. The bulldog made no move to step away from the table, unlike Nymeria who was dancing around and sniffing at the pockets of every single passerby. But when Gendry finally emerged from the restaurant the new whaft of pepperoni and dough brought her attention back over the table where she sat beside Gendry and ran her nose eagerly over his clothes.

Arya drew in a deep breath through her nose. “So,” she started before she could change her mind. “what brought you to move here, exactly?” Gendry looked up from his shoes, which he had been using to rub Toby’s back. “If you don’t mind me asking….”

“No, that’s fine!” he quickly replied, making Arya feel a million times better about her question. “I…uh…well, like I said, I just wanted somewhere new. After my mom passed, Davos kept offering me the flat in the back of his shop. Said he’d feel better with someone around now that his own kids are grown. Just finally decided to take him up on the offer.”

The way he said it left Arya with the suspicion that there was more to the story, but she wasn’t about to break the trust that the two had so easily fallen into. Instead, she returned with her own story. “I understand.” She sighed. “My dad passed and I needed somewhere to clear my head. He was always really close to Aunt Lyanna, so I guess I figured that moving close to her would help me get over my dad.”

Gendry nodded and moved to rest his hand on Nymeria’s head, who had chosen to sit by his chair. “Well…I wish it wasn’t because of your dad…but I’m glad you did move here. I’m glad I met you.” He said, and when he looked up at her she could tell that he truly meant it

Arya didn’t know what to say, she was a little dumbstruck, really. So instead she quickly grabbed her phone from the table, pulling up the camera and snapping a quick picture of Gendry and Nymeria.

“Excuse me!” he laughed when he heard the tell-tale sound from her phone. “I don’t think I gave you permission to take my picture!”

“Too late.” She shrugged, checking to make sure the picture saved. It had. And she sat looking at it for a few seconds longer than she had planned. Not because of Nymeria, but because she had managed to snap it right as Gendry flashed a flawless smile at her wolf. Closing the screen, she looked up to find Gendry’s eyes still on her…..and, Gods, she still couldn’t get over how blue his eyes were. “I’m glad I met you too.” She found herself saying softly.

Before either could speak, though, one of the waiters pushed through the door with a large pie balanced on one hand and two sodas clutched in the other. Arya couldn’t help but let out a quick laugh when the man sat it down on the table to reveal toppings of pepperoni and sausage. Gendry gave her another wink before thanking the waiter and dismissing him to return back inside. Arya quickly looked down and tore off one of the slices to lay in the ground beside her feet. She had intended the piece for Nymeria, simply out of habit, but watched as both dogs stood and moved towards the tempting morsel. The wolf and bulldog both stopped just short of the piece, and instead stood to look at each other, waiting to see if the other would claim it.

“I’m proud of you, Toby.” Gendry said in muffled words. Arya looked up to see that he had already taken a bite out of his slice. “Usually he’s ready to fight to the death over pizza.” Gendry broke off a second piece and sat it down beside the first.

The two canines looked at the two pieces, then looked at each other, then back at the pizza, before finally stepping over and each gently biting into their respective meals.

“Not a bad place to live, really.” Arya commented after swallowing a bite.

“I’m liking it so far.” Gendry agreed, though the way he cut his eyes over towards her, Arya got the feeling that he wasn’t just saying that about the town.

“Not a lot to do, though.” She continued. “Not as much as Kings Landing.”

Gendry shrugged and scrunched his face. “Never was much for doing stuff anyways. Stayed close to home, worked in my shop a lot.”

“Shop?”

“Oh…yeah. Did a lot of metalworking. Was a nice hobby.”

Arya had just opened her mouth to inquire more into the interesting new fact when a fat raindrop landed ontop of her head. That was all the warning that the pair had before the skies opened up in a drenching downpour. Arya shrieked and Gendry cursed, scrambling to close the lid on the pizza box.


	4. Hug-O-War

‘This is so stupid.’ Gendry thought, and it wasn’t for the first time. He was drenched from head to toe, his socked feet squishing inside of his sneakers with each step, and under one arm was slung a very unhappy Toby, the other hand clutching his discarded sweatshirt. It was nothing but stupid.

Arya was in front of him, clutching the soggy cardboard of the pizza box as she led the way. Well, really it was Nymeria doing the leading, bounding down the sidewalk and kicking up spray in their faces with every puddle she passed through. 

When Gendry had woken up that morning, he had done so with no intentions of sprinting through pouring rain back to Arya’s flat. A simple day in the park with a new friend; what could go wrong? But yet here he was. The rain had brought on a vicious debate at the pizza parlor as to whether or not they should part ways there. But Gendry was utterly opposed to the idea of leaving Arya and Nymeria to run back to their place alone in a storm, and hers was closest besides. So there he was, following this girl and her wolf back to her flat in an absolute downpour. 

Down streets and side-streets they raced. Gendry began to recognize things when they passed by the pet store. It would have been the perfect place for shelter, if Lyanna wasn’t so staunch about having weekends off to herself, so they bypassed the locked shop and continued on. ‘This is so stupid.’ But, if Gendry had to guess, he would have almost wondered if Arya was actually enjoying this in some way. A large smirk was plastered to her face every time she turned her head to make sure he was still in tow. Her damp clothes hung tight against her body, her own sweatshirt draped over her head in a feeble attempt to keep the rain off. As they ran, Gendry found himself letting his gaze fall on her more and more, watching her legs pump back and forth as fast as they could, though he still wasn’t running his full stride himself. If he did, he would have passed her a long time ago. He was more than content, though, to stay behind her and follow wherever she may lead. Maybe this wasn’t so stupid after all…

Soon they reached a modest building and Arya darted inside, holding the door for Gendry to make his entrance. The front lobby was empty, and thank goodness for it because Nymeria immediately began to shake.

“Nym! Ugh no!” Arya grumbled as they covered their faces. The wolf only sat down and began to lick at her wet fur. Gendry watched Arya roll her eyes and knee the large pup in the side before turning and heading towards the stairs.

Once more, Gendry followed. Toby began to squirm in his arm, obviously annoyed that he couldn’t jump down and give a good shake himself. “Easy, boy.” Gendry said softly. “You’ll get down soon enough.”

He turned his head back to watch where Arya was taking them. This was where she had him beat. It had honestly been a while since he had lived in a place with stairs. Probably since that one flat building he and his mom had lived in when he was seven…. Gendry wasn’t used to climbing so many steps, but Arya sure was, and he watched in near exhaustion as she gained distance from him up and up the flights. He huffed and raced on, praying that soon he would see her turning onto the floor that held her flat. ‘Her flat.’ That thought in his mind nearly made him miss a step and break his jaw. There had been little time to think of it out in the torrent that they just ran through, but now that they were safe inside he could give a little more consideration. ‘Arya’s flat. With her. Now.’

They finally did reach the right floor and Gendry slowed his steps. Arya hurried along down the hall and fought her hand into her wet pocket to fish out her keys. Why should this make him so nervous? They were friends. Just good friends, waiting out a rainstorm.

She pushed the door open and Gendry watched Nymeria let herself in while Arya stayed out in the hall. 

“Come on, now.” She half laughed. “I promise, I don’t have any bodies in here. Only a few swords.”

Gendry raised an eyebrow, but his mind was still working too fast for him to give any more of an answer. He stepped in the door and stopped to let himself get acquainted with the surroundings. Toby began to squirm more, so Gendry finally let him down. The bulldog gave his customary shake, though he threw out far less water than Nymeria had.

“I’ll get some towels.” Arya announced before heading off down a hall, leaving him and the dogs alone.

With nothing else to do, Gendry took the moment to glance around the living area unsupervised. It was simple, a large padded couch sat along one wall with a comically oversized dog bed beside it, TV sitting on a cabinet on the opposite wall. Décor was sparse, a small scattering of pictures sitting in frames on end tables and hung on the walls, along with two small swords that hung on display racks. A potted plant that seemed well looked after sat near the window. Blinds were open and Gendry could clearly see that the rain had given no thought to letting up. He listened for a moment to the muffled sounds of Arya in one of the rooms down the hall before hazarding a few steps into the living room to inspect the pictures. Only one contained Arya herself, one with a slightly older man that had the same eyes as her who Gendry assumed could only be her brother. The rest were of people that he thought could be her family, though the only one who looked more like her than her brother was a much older man that was posing with an auburn haired woman. That picture was in a silver frame on an end table by itself, and from the disturbance of dust around it, Gendry could tell that it was picked up often. 'Her parents.'

Arya’s voice rang through the flat, making him jump slightly, then kick himself for jumping when he was doing absolutely nothing wrong. “Ok, I have towels and clothes.” She emerged from the hallway wearing a dry loose t-shirt and sweatpants, wet hair put up in a messy bun. You would be correct for guessing that his heart skipped a beat or two.

“Three towels for Nymeria,” she tossed them onto Nymeria’s back. “One towel for Toby.” She did the same for him and watched with a grin as he threw it off of his back the same way that he had done Gendry’s sweatshirt. “And for you,” she turned to Gendry. “Here’s a towel and some clothes.”

Gendry turned up an eyebrow as she handed him the bundle. “Clothes?” He felt a pang in his chest as his mind instantly jumped to conclusions. Maybe they were from her boyfriend…

“Yeah, clothes.” She smirked. “I’ll confess, I’m a typical girl. We like oversized things sometimes. I just hope they’re oversized enough.”

********************

They weren’t.

Arya bit back laughter from her seat on the couch when Gendry rounded the corner, returning to the living room wearing basketball shorts that hugged just a little too tightly and a band t-shirt that rode slightly up his stomach if he moved the wrong way, which was often. Not that she minded at all, of course.

“Sorry.” She smirked as she stood to step over to him. But she couldn’t, in all honestly, mean that word. Not with the lines and contours that were now visible through the tight clothing.

Gendry shrugged and smiled, handing her his bundle of wet clothes. “Hey, they’re dry clothes, so I’m grateful. Thank you. I’m just glad you had these and not sweatpants that said “Juicy” across the ass.”

Without even thinking, Arya grabbed the bundle from him and bumped her hip to his as she walked past, casually commenting, "Well it would be fitting..." 

She waited until she had rounded the corner of the hallway before letting her cool expression change to one of utter horror. 'Did I just did that. Why the fuck did I do that?!' The expression stayed plastered to her face as she entered the bathroom and began hanging his wet clothes over the shower curtain rod. She only briefly considered the option of hiding out in the bathroom for the duration of his stay, but knew that wasn't anywhere near an option. She did, however, take her time hanging up the clothes beside her own before returning to the living room, all the while hearing Gendry's muffled voice as he seemingly talked to the dogs. 

Arya returned to find Gendry sitting on the floor beside Toby, seeming to have just finished rubbing him down with the towel. He only glanced up and smiled when she entered, so she sighed inwardly and did the same. She did the same for Nymeria, sitting down beside the wolf and grabbing one of the towels to begin wiping down her huge head.

"Thanks again." Gendry broke the silence. "For letting us come here."

"Don't mention it. No way was I going to make you two walk back home in this." Arya continued drying off Nymeria, dodging her face away when Nymeria decided to turn her hot breath directly into her girl's face. 

“I’ll call Davos and see if he……” then Gendry stopped short and Arya looked up just in time to see him mouth a curse. “No, I can’t. He’s out of town for the day.”

“If he could pick you up?” she asked. “I can drive you home! Whenever you’re ready.”

She watched his face soften as he looked up to smile at her. “Thank you.” He turned back down to busy himself with Toby once more. “I really appreciate everything. This whole day, actually.”

“Hey, you were the one who got us lunch! And you gave Nym the best workout she’s had in ages.”

Gendry smirked, still looking down at his own dog. “Well, I mean just giving me a reason to get out in general. It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun.”

His next sentence took her aback.

“Or felt this comfortable with someone.”

Arya looked back up to find Gendry looking at her with a weak smile. The cocky, confident attitude that he had displayed earlier that day was gone, and in it’s place a gleam of vulnerability. She needed to speak. Needed to say something, and found her mind floundering for words, but what should have been so easy was quickly becoming a horribly awkward silence between them. Arya absolutely felt the same way with him. But why couldn’t she say it?

“I’m glad.” She finally pushed herself to say, voice cracking slightly under the pressure. “That’s what friends are for.”

She could have sworn she saw his shoulders deflate ever so slightly, but the same gleam still sat in his eyes as his smile grew. Arya forced her eyes back to drying Nymeria and found it a little easier to speak without looking into those blue eyes. “You know, you can stick around here for as long as you want.” She offered, perking her voice up to lighten the mood. “It’s just me and Nymeria here, after all.”

“Oh yeah? No jealous boyfriend gonna be coming around to kick my arse?” he laughed.

She laughed as well, but couldn’t help reading in between the lines, and decided to return her own probe. “No, no boyfriends here. What about you? Do I need to worry about a crazy girlfriend creeping on me for hogging her man?”

Gendry snorted. “Fat chance there! Didn’t I just get done saying that this was the first time I’ve really gotten out?”

“Well I don’t know! You may be one of those that likes to keep a secret woman locked away in your closet.” She said with a feigned inflection of mystery.

“Oh yeah, right. Because Toby and I are such fiends!”

Toby let out a low woof at his name and looked up at Gendry. Nymeria stuck her nose over at Toby who, rather than growl like before, casually leaned over to touch his flat nose to hers.

********************

“So, what about those swords?” Gendry asked after swallowing his mouthful. The pair had attempted to salvage the pizza but finding that it was completely soggy from the rain took away any appetite that still remained for the pie. Instead, Arya dug through her kitchen until she produced some frozen chicken tenders.

“Hmmm.” She hummed, taking a quick drink of her soda to cool off the heat from her own mouthful. “My brother Jon gave me one. The other one was from Lyanna.”

“Really?” Gendry took another look at the two weapons displayed proudly. “I never figured her for a sword enthusiast.” 

Arya nodded. “When she was younger, she fought in competitions. Supposedly she was really good. I took some classes, so she got me one of my own. Then Jon got me the other when I turned 16.”

“I’ll have to ask her about it on Monday.”

Arya shook her head, setting him aback. “I mean, you can.” She explained. “But she doesn’t like to brag about it. Always just says that she’s ‘put it all behind her to live simply now’.”

“Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.”

Before either of them could continue the conversation, the heard a commotion in the living room that made them both jump up. Growls could be heard, along with low whimpers, and the sound of furniture being knocked over. Looking around the corner, they were met with one of the most comical sights either had ever seen. Nymeria had her mouth clamped around one end of her rope toy, while Toby was latched onto the other. Both were digging their paws in deep to the carpet, pulling backwards with every once of strength they had, and neither were budging. Occasionally one of them would whimper or growl, and Nymeria would attempt to buck herself backwards, knocking into one of the end tables. But Toby was holding his own against the large wolf, every muscle in his body put to it’s full use. He was a bulldog, after all.

“Good boy, Tobe! Show her what you got!” Gendry cackled, bringing Arya’s elbow to his ribs.

“You got this, Nym!” she cheered on. “Who’s the big girl!”

********************

The sun had long since set below the horizon when the four found themselves piled into Arya’s vehicle. It was a modest size, big enough surely for a girl and her wolf, but with Gendry and Toby thrown into the mix it was a tad cramped.

“Yeah, just turn there.” Gendry pointed as he adjusted his slightly cramped legs.

Arya followed the direction and turned down the road. The rain had long since let up, and even after it did, they had stuck around Arya’s flat for the better part of the evening, talking and watching their dogs finally getting along. But even when he had insisted that he could walk home, Arya had flat out refused and very nearly pushed him out the door and down the staircase. He couldn’t help but smile to himself at how she was so willingly going out of her way to take care of him and Toby. He honestly never once had truly felt as though he was an inconvenience. And he was glad, because he wanted to do this again.

“So, uh,” he started before he had time to completely flesh out his thought. “you know I said it’s been a while since I’ve gotten out.”

Arya nodded.

“Well,” he paused again. Why couldn’t he just say it? “Uh, I’d really like to do it again. Maybe, do something else? Not that I didn’t like the park!”

Arya laughed softly, the sound putting him instantly at ease. “I know what you mean. Yeah, I’d like to.”

“Great.” He grinned, breathing out relief. “Maybe next weekend? We can plan something.”

“Great.” She agreed. “Can’t wait!”

Gendry felt so giddy he nearly forgot to tell her to make the next turn, resulting in a sharp move that made the two dogs slide across the back seat. Nymeria yelped softly when Toby thumped into her side. 

The remainder of the ride he could hardly process any other thought than knowing that he was going to be meeting her again. His hands fidgeted on his lap, eyes darting over to look at her as she drove. He had long since realized it, ever since he had followed her blindly through the pouring rain to a place he had never been before. He had a crush on her. There was no other way around it. It was there, and he didn’t want it to go away. But he didn’t want to force it; he had noticed the way she hesitated when he told her how comfortable he was around her. But, Gods, she had agreed to see him again. That had to mean something. Oh, he hoped it meant something.

Directing her down another street, the car slowed past some tall trees before coming to stop in front of a modest house, a large metal shop sitting several yards away.

“Well, this is me.” Gendry sighed. “Thank you again, Arya. I really do appreciate it, and you.”

“Like I said, it’s what friends are for.” She smiled softly back, reaching a hand over to nudge his knee.

Gendry had to fight to keep his focus and smiled back before quickly climbing out of the car. He had just stood up, though, when he heard her car door close as well, and turned to see her stepping quickly around the other side of the car. Before he could ask, she was in front of him and wrapping her arms tightly around his torso, the side of her face pressed to the center of his chest. He expected himself to freeze at the sudden contact, but he didn’t, and found his arms quickly circling around to hug her shoulders.

“Couldn’t let you leave without a proper hug.” She explained, her words half muffled against him.

Gendry didn’t reply, just tightened his arms around her tighter, lowering his nose to taking a deep breath of her scent.

It was several seconds before they finally released each other. Gendry could have honestly stayed in that same position for the rest of the night. But common sense prevailed, and he let himself grin like a fool as he opened the back door to let Toby out. He hadn’t expected for Nymeria to jump out too, and was nearly knocked over by the wolf who began to happily follow her new friend as the bulldog ran up the path towards the shop.

“Nym! No!” Arya laughed. “No sleepovers!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting good! More progress will be made in the next chapter!
> 
> Thoughts? Likes? Hates? General 'meh's?
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading! It always makes me so happy to see your comments!


	5. First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um...so this chapter is here. Mention of blood and injury. Nothing too major, to be sure. But....yeah....here it is.

Arya drummed her fingers in the steering wheel in time with the catchy beat from the radio. The feeling was odd as she looked at the clock, finding herself out of the house much much earlier than usual for a work day. Normally she was scrambling to get herself and Nymeria out of the house with just enough time to roll into the parking lot. But those mornings weren't accompanied by the chance to swing by Lyanna's pet shop to return clothes to a man that she most definitely had a date with the next evening. 

She had clearly caught the amused tone in Lyanna's text the previous evening when Arya had asked if Gendry would be at work that day, and Arya desperately hoped that her aunt didn't have anything up her sleeve. Or worse....that she had said something to him about it. Part of her wanted to bypass the shop and wait to give him the clothes that next evening. She was already out of the house early, though, and honestly had no excuse for not stopping by to see her aunt. Nymeria sat beside her in the car, nose shoved into the crack of the window as her wagging tail thumped Arya on the arm. Arya had made the mistake one too many times of opening the window too much and found that Nymeria had absolutely no fear when it came to jumping out of a moving vehicle.

The sun was just beginning to shed enough light to fill the sky and the small town had yet to fully awaken when Arya approached the shop, so a parking spot on the street outside was found right away. Grabbing the neatly folded clothes from the dashboard, she stepped out of the vehicle and circled around to let out the impatient wolf. 

When she had returned home from dropping off Gendry, she had gathered their damp clothes and ran them through the washer. Even after removing them from the dryer, she smiled upon realizing that she could still detect his faint scent left on the soft t-shirt. Before she could catch herself, she was standing in the cramped laundry room with the garment pressing it to her face, instantly reminded of the same scent that had filled her nose when she had hugged him outside of his place. The hug itself had been carried out on pure autopilot, her mind screaming a million different things while her body calmly carried out the motions. But it had been the best decision she could have ever made, a small part of her breaking so beautifully inside as his arms circled her to pull her against his warm chest. "Not a word out of you." she had smiled when she spotted Nymeria watching her before folding the shirt and taking it to place on the kitchen counter along with his jeans.

Nymeria now jumped around her as the two stepped up to the door, nearly knocking Arya over as they entered. the jiggle of the bells above the door was drowned out by Nymeria's excited yelp as she trotted down an aisle towards the backroom door. Arya followed and watched the fluffy tail disappear behind the curtain and the soon following sound of excited voices announced to Arya that the wolf had found Lyanna and Gendry. 

Pushing the curtain back herself, she was met with the sight of Lyanna scratching Nymeria's large head. Arya smiled and said a soft 'hey' when Lyanna noticed her before turning to look to where Gendry was. That was the sight that held her attention though. He was stacking large dog food bags on a pallet, and from the looks of it he had been at it for a while, a faint sheen of sweat covering his face and arms and a small damp patch present between his shoulder blades. Back turned to her, Arya was granted full view of the flex and pull of his muscles as he bent over to grab the last bag before heaving it on top of the stack. Luckily, Arya was able to catch herself as he started to turn around, dragging her gaze back over to Lyanna's affections on Nymeria before he could witness her blatant staring. 

"Arya, hey!" she heard Gendry exclaim, taking it as her cue to look back over at him. But if the play of his muscles had her drooling, then his bright blue eyes and the smile he was now giving her was melting her very existence. 

"Hey." she managed to smile, and got lucky again when Nymeria bounded over to him, distracting from her momentary inability to form thoughts. 

“Hey, big girl.” He said through laughter as the wolf danced around his legs. “Sorry, no Toby here today.”

“I keep telling Gendry he should bring him in!” Lyanna exclaimed. “What’s a pet store without a couple of pets hanging about?”

Arya watched Gendry’s smile grow as his hands continued to chase Nymeria’s movements. Without realizing it, she found herself running over a mental image of Gendry giving her that smile from the other side of her bed. It took her much longer than she would have liked to admit to push it away, and by the time she did, Nymeria had found something else to occupy her mind and darted off into the racks of the storeroom. 

“Well, I’m going to get the register in order.” came Lyanna’s announcement, seeming to feel the need to dismiss herself as well. “Gendry, at some point I’m going to need more of the smaller bags brought out.”

“I’ll get right on it, Ms. Stark.”

And then it was just the two of them. She couldn’t be sure, but Arya felt as though the changed air between them had something to do with the hug they shared. Well, no, it had everything to do with the hug. That, and the looming date. It must have been on Gendry’s mind as well, because he was the next to speak, and it was about that.

“So, uh, did you have anywhere specific you’d like to go tomorrow?” Arya shook her head. “Oh good, cause, uh, I was thinking that maybe we could, uh, go to that Harvest Festival out on the edge of town? That way we can bring the dogs along. But if that’s too much then that’s fine! We could just, you know, go to the park again or something!”

Arya didn’t realize how big her smile had grown until she went to speak. “That festival sounds great.” She half laughed, finding her words brought a look of relief over his own face. “And Nymeria will appreciate coming along. She gets mad when I leave her behind on dates.” 

The smile nearly dropped from her face as soon as the word slipped out. But she watched as it only made Gendry’s smile grow and couldn’t help but do the same. They were going on a date.

********************

Gendry took in a deep breath as he turned the doorknob, stepping out into the late afternoon. Sitting in front of the shop was the large pick-up that Davos had lent him for the evening, and if Gendry clutched the set of keys any tighter, he just knew they would break skin. Forcing himself to relax his muscles, he turned around in time to watch Toby march quickly through the door behind him.

"A lot more excited to be going out this time, yeah?" Gendry couldn't help but grin. "Same here, mate."

A final check of his pockets was preformed, ensuring that his wallet and phone were there, before locking the door behind him and following Toby, who was already waiting for him beside the truck. It wasn't new, but it was certainly newer than the tin can he was currently using to get to and from work. Nothing but excitement and pride was seen in Davos' eyes when Gendry had asked if he could borrow the older man's vehicle for a date, and Davos had instantly handed over the keys without even a warning to bring it back in one piece. 

Gendry opened the door and bent down to give Toby a boost. The bulldog waited patiently until his paws were on the floorboard before hopping up on the bench seat and taking his place as shotgun. Gendry pulled himself in, taking another moment to ensure that he had everything he needed. This night was big, huge even. This was the first time he had actually been excited for a date since before his mother had passed. It was hard not to be excited, though, when his date was Arya Stark.

Keys were placed into the ignition and turned, the engine rumbling strongly under the hood. But Gendry winced, finding that Davos had filled the fuel tank, and made a mental note to slip some money in the man’s wallet.

Nervous gave way to near dread as Gendry and Toby pulled out into the street and began driving towards town. How could he have thought himself so confident in this? He wasn’t ready, and all of the ignored calls and deleted messages and burnt letters proved it. He ran away from trouble, nothing was going to change that. What happened if this became a serious relationship? What would happen if she found out how he had been handling his past? What if they began having trouble themselves? Would he pack up again and leave it all behind? Leave her behind?

No, he could never do that. Arya was beautiful and willful. She had lost a parent the same as him, and though she had yet to tell him all of her story, he had a nagging feeling that they had even more in common. Besides, this was only a first date.

The sunlight was fading faster now, and Gendry flicked on his headlights. The steady flow of evening traffic pulled him into town. He pushed the racing thoughts away for just long enough to turn down the streets that he had remembered running behind her on. Navigating his way through the quiet neighborhood, he soon spotted the familiar flat building and found a spot out front.

“Stay put, Toby. I’ll be back with the girls.” Gendry announced as he slid out of the truck and closed the door before Toby had a chance to jump out. 

He turned around, intent on going up to her flat himself, but was pleasantly surprised when he saw the brunette and her wolf walking through the front door. Gendry froze, taking in the sight of Arya in her skinny jeans and brown leather jacket. He silently cursed himself, feeling very much underdressed in his own jeans and plaid button down shirt. Even in the dim evening light he could have sworn she glowed golden. A very sappy thought, but true.

Arya smiled, and as usual, he found it very hard not to do the same. “Figured we’d wait for you out here.” she shrugged. “Save you the climb up the steps.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have cared.” he found himself breathing out. It was true, he already could think of very little that he wouldn’t do for her. “That jacket looks nice on you.”

“Thanks.” She dipped her head in a shy smile. “Been a while since I’ve had a chance to wear it. Plaid suits you.”

Now it was his turn for a shy smile. “Thanks. My mom always said so too.”

Toby’s deep bark came from behind him, making him jump slightly. He heard Arya chuckle as he turned around to find the bulldog’s face pressed against the window glass, drool marking a large area wherever his mouth had been. 

“Alright, boy. You can get out. But only for a minute!” Gendry opened the door and Toby jumped out to nearly fall flat on the pavement. 

Nymeria ran over and the two began sniffing around each other. The wolf began her usual jumping and instigating, but rather than growl like before, Toby only gave deep groans as he danced around with her. 

“I’ve never seen him do that!” Gendry found himself exclaiming.

“I guess Nymeria brings out the best in him!” 

Gendry wanted so badly to say that Nymeria wasn’t the only one bringing out the best in someone, but he just couldn’t bring the words past his lips. Maybe later he could. For now, though, he was content to stand with his date and watch as Toby threw his weight against Nymeria, causing her to give a happy howl and dart around his truck.

********************

But then Arya heard screeching tires.

And then a loud thud.

And a yelp that sent a knife through Arya's heart before she even had time to turn around.

It all began happening in a blur around her. Gendry was rushing past her into the road, Toby was giving deep barks beside her, and everything sounded like she was underwater. Ice ran through her veins, freezing her in place on the sidewalk. Headlights from a stopped car fell on a large mass of fur in the middle of the road. It was only barely moving. 

She still couldn't move. She just couldn't. Gendry was shouting towards the car now and someone was getting out. More shouting. Gendry ran over to what must be Nymeria. Nothing else could have that much fur, right? He knelt down on the pavement and Arya watched worry dawn on his face as he ran his hands over the large body. 

She still couldn't move when Gendry scooped up the pile of fur, his face straining as he carried the heavy body over to the back of his truck. Her face was wet now, and Toby was running towards the car in the road. Gendry must have placed the fur in the truck, because he was now scooping up Toby in one arm, then turning and running to her. He had an ugly dark streak across the front of his shirt. Did that come from Nymeria?

She still couldn’t move when he grabbed her in his free arm, wrapping it tightly around her waist as he led her to the truck. Gendry lifted her as if she was nothing and she soon found herself kneeling in the truck bed beside the pile of fur. 

It was Nymeria.

Arya remembered nothing of the drive through town. It barely even registered to her that the truck had begun moving. The only thing filling her consciousness was the almost non-existent movement in Nymeria's chest and her prayers that it wouldn't cease. She didn't even notice the blood matting the grey fur until the truck came to a hard stop outside of a building. The truck door slammed shut and Gendry was opening the tailgate, pulling Nymeria into his arms once more. Arya nearly cried out at the loss of contact with her best friend, but his face was stern and determined, so she bit her lip and climbed down to follow him inside.

They were at an animal hospital, she gathered. She stood in the too bright waiting room and watched as the lady at the desk briefly took in the sight of the large man carrying the large wolf before picking up a phone and pressing some buttons. Soon she heard a door opening and a small crowd entered the waiting room, all wearing scrubs, and began to take Nymeria from Gendry. That's when it all began to break for her.

Her legs jolted and she began to run after them, only to have strong arms grab her waist. Arya knew that any other time it would have been a dream, but not this time. This time she could only sob quietly into his shirt, the same shirt that was also stained with Nymeria's blood. He didn't seem to care though, and instead held her tighter to support her weight against himself, even when her ugly sobs turned into savage screams against his chest.

"She's.....all I....have!" her words came out in broken hitches. “I’ll….be….all…..alone!”

Gendry must have been able to make at least some of it out, because she felt him press his cheek to her head, all the while shushing her softly and saying "You're not alone. They're helping her. You're not alone, Arya. I’m here. It’ll all be alright."

The words only brought on more tears, but still he stood, never giving the slightest indication of moving away. Even when her screams returned to sobs, which then turned into sniffles and hiccups. Only then did he move, but his arms stayed around her, guiding her to sit in one of the padded chairs, himself sitting in the seat right next to hers. 

Arya felt numb now, as though nothing anyone said or did could bring on any form of reaction in her. Even her body felt lifeless as she fought to gather enough strength to lift her head from Gendry’s chest to lay it on his shoulder. But this wasn’t new to her. She had felt this before, the weight of loss, only then she had been able to lean on Nymeria for strength. The wolf was clinging to life, though, just like her father had been. And he had died. 

“Where’s Toby?” she finally spoke, voice dry and nasally from her stopped nose. 

“In the truck. No worries, it’s cool enough out. He’ll be fine.”

Arya nodded weakly. “Gendry, talk to me. About anything.”

“Uh…ok…” Gendry sat quietly for a second.

“Tell me about the hobby you said you had. Metalworking.”

“Oh…yeah…sure...” he started, the hand on her shoulder rubbing up and down as he seemed to think. “Uh, right, well Davos used to babysit me a lot when I was young, and he always had a shop where he’d work on projects. So, naturally, I’d end up in there with him, just tinkering about.” Arya nodded as she listened, finding herself beginning to relax against his firm frame. “It always fascinated me when he’d weld and when I was old enough, he taught me how. I ended up paying for most of my school supplies that way, doing odd welding jobs and selling things I made. I think that’s why Davos wanted me to move in. He’s always wanted to open up his own shop and…..”

Gendry didn’t get to finish because Arya suddenly found it in her to sit up and look at him, locking their eyes and taking in one long look before she leaned in to kiss him.

She felt Gendry flinch slightly at the contact, but as with the rest of the evening, he never moved away.

It was quick and light, but Arya still found herself searching for her breath when they parted, looking once more in his eyes before she laid her head back down on his shoulder. She still felt numb, a very small part of her having hoped that kissing him would break through that, but she definitely did not regret the decision. Gendry said no more, though Arya could feel his grip on her tighten ever so slightly as he rested his head on top of hers.

Though she could hear the continuous ticking of a clock somewhere in the waiting room, Arya made no move to look at the time. She didn’t want to know just how long her entire world had been somewhere in a vet’s office without her. Even the thought caused more tears to sting her eyes, so she chose instead to focus on other things. On Gendry. On the colors in the plaid of his shirt. On the gentle movement of air from his nose across her forehead. On the short hairs on his chin that she could stroke if she moved her hand just enough. She decided to do that and found herself almost smile when the action tickled him and caused him to twitch his mouth. She had done such a good job of distracting herself that it made her jump when a man cleared his throat behind them.

“Hi.” the thin young man in scrubs introduced himself gently. “I’m Dr. Mathis. I assume that’s….your wolf?”

Arya nodded as she sat up, wiping at her eyes.

“Well, she’s a beautiful girl, I have to say.” he smiled sadly. “We’ve finished in surgery. Uh, how much would you like to know?”

“Everything.” was her immediate reply.

The young man nodded and ran a hand through his hair, as black as Gendry’s, taking a seat in a chair across from Arya. “She had internal bleeding, for sure. Wouldn’t have expected different. We’ve resolved that, but there are still some fractured ribs, and nothing to rule out more damage that we weren’t able to see. She’s also broken one of her front legs and dislocated a hip. Those have been set and put in casts.”

“Is she going to make it?” Arya asked quickly, wanting to get the question out as quickly as she could. She had to know.

Dr. Mathis sighed. “Possibly. She has a good chance, but we won’t know for certain until she wakes up from the sedative. She’ll need to stay here for a few days, at least.”

Something inside Arya stirred at that. “You mean I can’t take her home tonight?” The words came out a little harsher than they probably should have.

“No.” was the doctor’s reply though wide eyes. “No, she’ll need to stay here for monitoring, incase anything ese comes up.”

Gendry’s hand moved on her shoulder. Had his hand been there the whole time? She couldn’t remember. “It’s fine, Arya. She’s in good hands.”

Arya found herself nodding and reached up to wipe away a couple of tears that had escaped. “Can I see her now?”

Dr. Mathis seemed to think for a moment before nodding. “Yes, you can.”

Arya stood, as did the doctor and Gendry, and she made to follow them to the back, but then stopped. She was frozen again. 

“No.” she shook her head and looked down at her shoes. “No, I can’t.”

“That’s fine.” Gendry soothed, returning to her side and circling his arm back around her. “I can bring you back in the morning. First thing.”

Arya could only nod and listen as Gendry said a quick ‘thank you’ to the doctor before leading her out to his truck. The tears were coming back again and Arya bit down on her bottom lip, not wanting more to come so soon. Reaching the passenger side of the truck, she looked up to meet the solemn face of Toby through the glass. There was no drool marks on the glass, but instead large black eyes looking back at her as he waited for the door to open. Gendry did just that, his hand moving to her back to usher her safely into the truck.

The three were silent as Gendry drove away from the animal hospital. Toby sat between them, but leaned heavily on Arya, as still as if he was a very lifelike bulldog statue. Wanting something else to focus on, she draped a hand over his stout shoulders and began gently stroking the fur on his chest. Occasionally her eyes would drift over to Gendry, gripping the steering-wheel with both hands. This was different, she began to realize. Different than the last time she had lost someone she loved. That time she had been alone, driving herself home whilst fighting back tears, Nymeria’s head on her lap. She didn’t have Nymeria, but she did have two new friends. Well, one friend, and one guy she had kissed in a grief-stricken haze.

“I couldn’t do it with my dad either.” she sighed, ending the silence. Gendry made no response, so she continued. “I couldn’t look at him when he died. He was hooked up to all of the machines and tubes and…..I couldn’t bring myself to see him. I never said good-bye.”

She watched as Gendry flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. The moment that passed felt longer than it probably was, leaving Arya to want to kick herself for speaking, until he finally spoke.

“I was by my mom’s side when she died. Car accident, a bad one. Sometimes I wish that I hadn’t have been there.” he paused, and Arya watched him shift his hands yet again. “Because now I have that image in my head, of dried blood on her face, and wires stuck on her, and her clothes in shreds from being cut away by the medics.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter then.” Arya replied softly. “Loosing people just sucks all around.”

“Yeah. It kind of does.” Gendry sighed before they slipped back into silence.

He took them back through town until they were pulling up in front of Arya’s flat building. Again, she found herself fighting for strength as she unbuckled herself. By then, Gendry had circled around the truck and opened her door, offering a hand to help her out. She took it and, once her feet were on the ground, she used it to pull him into a tight hug. Her arms tightened around him with every ounce of remaining strength left in them, and he returned it ten times over, leaving Arya feeling like he had completely surrounded her. Too soon for her liking, she felt him loosening his arms. She did the same, pulling back to look up at him.

“First thing in the morning?”

“First thing.” he confirmed. But he left his arms around her, looking down at her with a stare that made her think he was trying to make up his mind. But then he only sighed and leaned down to press his lips to her forehead.

He pulled away and opened his mouth to wave a quick goodbye, but then Arya heard Toby’s dogtags jiggle as he jumped down out of the open truck door and trotted confidently over towards the building.

“No, Tobe! Back in!” Gendry sighed, making a move to retrieve him.

“It’s ok.” Arya said quickly. “He can stay. I’m not used to being alone anyways.”

“You’re sure?” Gendry asked, a corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk. When Arya nodded, it pulled up into a full smile. “Alright then. Toby, you take care of her.”

The walk up the steps to her flat was slow. For Arya it was because she still felt as though she was on the verge of losing her best friend and was now returning to her flat without her. For Toby, it was simply because he became winded after the third flight of steps. Either way, the pair shuffled slowly down the hall when they reached Arya’s floor.

Unlocking the door felt harder than it should have been, and the flat seemed much darker than it should have been, less welcoming and more like a foreign environment without the wolf to share it with. Toby was there, though, waddling over to the huge dog bed and sniffing it, and it made her feel just a little better knowing that he was there.

“She’ll be fine, Toby.” Arya found herself saying. “You can use her bed tonight. She won’t mind.”

The bulldog turned around, looking back up with those same sympathetic eyes, but Arya simply turned and walked slowly down the hall to her bedroom. 

A shower never even entered her mind, instead peeling off her jeans and top before slipping on the same oversized sweatpants and shirt that Gendry had returned. The light was then flipped off and she slid under her covers. 

Arya wanted to cry again. The tears were there, stinging behind her eyes. But she couldn’t. There wasn’t even anything else left to think about. Nymeria was alone in a hospital fighting for her very life, and here Arya was in her comfy bed. What would Nymeria think if she woke up and, instead of Arya there to comfort her, there were strangers with steel instruments and machines? Was that what her father had thought before he died? Ned Stark, who had sacrificed himself for his daughter, dying alone in a hospital room.

Yet again, something broke her from her thoughts. This time it was a thump on the side of her bed strong enough to cause the bed to shift. The thump was then followed by movement on the edge of her bed and pulling on her covers. Arya reached over to turn on her lamp, finding Toby’s upper half sprawled across her bed, his legs kicking and swinging to pull itself up. She opened her mouth to scold him, but then shut it and watched as he finally succeeded in pulling himself onto the bed, only to walk intently across her legs and torso before dropping himself down against her chest. He was still then, just as he had been in the truck, only his chest moving rhythmically with breath.

The tears came then, and Arya held onto Toby tightly as she cried into his fur. Just like Gendry, he never moved away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah.....  
I'm, uh, just gonna go...... *slowly walks out of the room*
> 
> *whispering around the doorframe* Nymeria doesn't die.


	6. Backstory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The chapter you guys have been waiting to read...and the chapter I've been waiting to write, because I need things to be ok just as much as you guys! 
> 
> Also, it's looking like there's only one more chapter left.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope seeing Nymeria happy and well made things better! Please comment and let me know!

The pale green numbers on the broke the darkness of the cab as Gendry rolled the truck into the driveway. _12:32_ He cursed under his breath before putting the truck into park and resting his forehead on the steering wheel. A part of him was beginning to think that he was cursed, never meant to truly be happy again in his life. Nothing else had gone right for him thus far, why should things start now?

It was when he lifted his head and sat back that he noticed that the living room light was still on in the house. Of course Davos would still be awake. Slowly removing his keys from the ignition, Gendry stepped out of the truck and walked slowly up to the house. Hands were soon shoved in his pocket, both in an attempt to fend off the night chill and as what he suspected was a security measure from the embarrassment of coming back so late.

He didn’t bother knocking as he entered. Marya had scolded him enough for it when he had first moved there, and he eventually gave up on it. Gendry could instantly feel himself being put at ease as he moved amongst the warm interior, earth-tones in the furniture and simple décor giving off a comfortable air. The Seaworths were never ones to live above their means, preferring a simple life of love and understanding; one of the many reasons why Gendry had never regretted his decision to move in. Davos was where Gendry expected, comfortably situated in his favorite recliner with reading glasses perched on his nose and a book spread in his hands.

The weathered face instantly turned upwards as Gendry entered the room, bringing a smile as he lowered the glasses and sat up. “Gendry! I was beginning to worry!”

“I’m sorry, Davos.” Gendry replied humbly, setting the truck keys down on the coffee table that lay in between them. “I didn’t mean to keep you up.”

“Think nothing of it.” Davos sat down his book and waved a hand. “Can’t sleep easy anyways. Too many late nights at work left me ruined on good sleep. How’d the evening go?” he then asked eagerly, gesturing towards the couch as he leaned forwards in his own seat.

Gendry simply shook his head as he took the offered seat.

It took Davos a few seconds of looking hard at Gendry before he spoke again. “How bad is it wrecked?”

“Hu?”

“Look, a truck is just a truck, son. I’m sure between the two of us we can fix whatever’s wrong with it in the shop.” Gendry opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off. “The important thing is that the two of you are alright. She is alright, isn’t she?”

“The truck’s fine.” Gendry replied quickly before he could be cut off again. “No, it ran great. Thank you, Davos.”

“Ah.” Davos raised his brows. “Good. Well what’s the matter then? Did the date go well? She have a good time?”

Shaking his head, Gendry looked down to study the lines in the wood flooring. “No. No, it didn’t.” he finally sighed. “Her dog…wolf…got hit by a car.”

Davos sat silent, though Gendry caught him shifting his hands out of the corner of his eye. “Son…I…”

“I drove her to the animal hospital. It was bad. Nymeria may make it, but we can’t be sure.”

“I see.” Davos let out a deep breath. “Good, son. You did good. And the girl?”

Gendry raised a hand to rub it roughly over his tired face. “Arya’s taking it hard. Left Toby with her for the night, but I’m taking her back to the vet in the morning.”

“Well then,” Davos grunted as he leaned forwards. The truck keys were scooted closer to Gendry. “You’ll need these again.” Gendry opened his mouth in protest but was cut off yet again. “It’s yours, son. I never drive it enough to miss it anyways. Besides, can’t have you escorting a fine young lady around in that death trap you own.”

Unable to help the short laugh that came out, Gendry finally looked up at Davos, finding gentle eyes smiling over at him. “And what makes you think she’ll want anything else to do with me?”

“Because you care, Gendry. And trust me, if there’s anything I’ve learned in all my years it’s that something like that matters to a woman.”

Gendry smiled back, but then darted his eyes back down to the coffee table, occupying his hands with fingering the keys. “Davos, do you still have Edric’s number?”

At that, Davos sat up straighter in his chair. “You know I do, Gendry.”

“Could you call him and…”

“I think you and I both know that you should be the one to do that.”

Gendry could only nod and stare at his keys while Davos stood and headed towards his study.

********************

As consciousness faded back into her mind, she found that the sound which had pulled her form her dreams was the ringtone on her phone. Not the ringtone she had set for when a family member called, nor the one separate one for when a friend called. This one was her generic ringtone for someone who wasn’t in her contacts, and her finger moved on autopilot to decline the call. Eyes still closed, Arya took a moment to take inventory of her surroundings. Pangs began to seep back into her chest when the warm body she felt beside her was too small to be Nymeria, reminding her that the horrible reality was not a part of her nightmares.

She hardly had time to think of anything else after that, because her phone started in with a series of tings as texts came through. Forcing her eyes to finally open, Arya was hit with bright light coming through her curtains, leaving her with one eye cracked just enough to see as she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and unlocked it.

Three missed calls, all from the same number, and 12 texts from the same number as well. Before she even had a chance to open any of the texts the screen changed, the foreign number calling yet again. Arya let out a groan and swiped it to answer. This morning was already horrible, how much could a salesman mess it up?

“Arya?!” came Gendry’s voice as soon as she had the phone pressed to her ear.

“Gendry?”

“Are you alright?” he asked, obviously more than a little worried. “I’ve been out here nearly an hour.”

That brought her eyes fully open. Pulling the phone back briefly, she looked at the time before slamming it back to her ear. “Gendry I’m so sorry! I was asleep.”

“Oh.” he sighed, new relief sounding in his voice. “I was worried. Thought maybe something happened or…”

Arya’s eyes opened wider. “Did you say you were outside?”

“Yeah. Outside your door, that is.”

She instantly hung up the phone, not realizing until she had jumped out of bed that perhaps that would worry him even more. No matter, though, because she stumbled down the short hallway and was at the front door within seconds, unlocking it and swinging it wide to find Gendry standing there staring dumbly at his phone.

"Hey." she said, voice cracking from sleep.

Gendry breathed out. "Hey." he returned, a smile coming to his face. "Um, I was worried, and I realized that I didn't even have your number, so I asked Lyanna." Arya nodded dumbly, still blinking hard and willing her brain to finish its loading process. Stepping aside, she gestured him to step into her flat. It wasn’t even until he did that she took note of the bunched paper sacks he had clutched in one hand and the coffee cup he had in the other.

He must have caught her gaze because he held them up as soon as the pair stepped further into the flat. “I…uh…brought breakfast.” he explained. “Figured you could use something quick before we left.”

“Oh, great.” she raised an eyebrow. Soon a grin was creeping to her face, one that he readily returned, which only made hers grow into a full smile.

A thump from the bedroom followed by the jingle of dog tags announced Toby’s entrance. Arya almost cursed when Gendry turned to look from her to the groggy bulldog waddling down the hallway. She had only just remembered that they had kissed the night before. But…then…she also had just realized that she was still in her pajamas with no bra to speak of, let alone the fact that they were the same clothes that she had leant to Gendry during the rain.

“I’m gonna go shower and change, if that’s alright.” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Oh yeah, go right ahead!” he replied quickly, her feet already turning towards the hallway.

As soon as she was behind the closed door of the bathroom, Arya finally let herself breathe easier. With the privacy, she allowed herself to look in the mirror and grimaced instantly. Her hair was in a desperate need of a wash and her eyes were red and lined with black bags. _‘I bet he could smell my breath as soon as he stepped into the flat also.’_ she thought harshly as she flung her clothes off.

The scalding water against her skin, however, did wonders for the situation. A lather in her hair and over her skin improved it further. By the time she stepped out of the shower and began drying off she was smiling and silently singing along with the song that was in her head. With a towel securely wrapped around her, Arya poked her head out into the hall. She could hear Gendry still in the kitchen and it sounded to her like he was carrying on a full one-sided conversation with Toby. A grin returned to her face once more and she slipped out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, gently closing the door behind her.

Once knickers and a bra were in place, Arya slipped into a pair of comfortable jeans and moved over to her closet. She took a few moments inspecting the shirt options, wondering what would be the most comfortable, but also the most flattering. “I dunno, what do you think, Nym?”

But Nymeria wasn’t there. Of course she wasn’t.

Arya stumbled back, her chest tightening and eyes watering. She felt a traitor, like the worst person alive. Her best friend was alone in a hospital, clinging to life for all she knew, and Arya had let herself get caught up in how she felt for Gendry. They could already be on the road by now, but here she was wasting time in choosing a shirt. She continued to stumble back until her legs hit the bed, causing her to crumble to the floor as silent sobs brought the tears.

She couldn’t have said how long she sat crying, but to didn’t seem to be too long before she heard the faint jingle of dog tags coming down the hallway. Soon the sound was joined by scratches at her door, and then after that came Gendry’s worried voice. “Arya? Are you alright?”

She was crying harder now, and she just knew he had to hear her, so it didn’t surprise her when the door began to slowly open. Toby cared nothing for modestly and pushed his way inside to take his post at Arya’s side. By the time he had wormed his head underneath her arm Gendry’s head slowly appeared around the door.

“Arya, what’s theohshitI’msosorry!” he ducked his head back around as soon as he saw that she was without a shirt.

Arya composed herself just enough to pull the towel down from her bed and wrap it around her shoulders. “It’s…ok…now.” she managed to croak out and watched as he slowly reappeared.

Gendry didn’t speak anymore, but slowly stepped across the room, watching her face as though he was waiting for her to object. She didn’t, and Gendry sat down on the opposite side from Toby. His arm slowly wrapped around her shoulders and prompted her to lay her head on his chest. She closed her eyes as she did, letting a fresh wave of tears flow down.

“Nymeria saved my life.” Her words came out broken and certainly out of context to Gendry. There was no way that he could have followed the thought process that lead her to say what she was about to say. But, following his usual, he stayed silent and let her continue. “My dad was a park ranger, back in Winterfell. He was always taking me out on surveys and tracking trips. We were out late one night, and we started arguing.”

Her tears had eased up with the distraction of talking. But she still kept her face pressed to his chest. There was a comfort in it’s firmness and warmth. “It was stupid, but I remember hating him for it, so I ran. Me and Nymeria, we ran away. It was already getting late, but then it was after dark when I realized that I was lost. It started getting cold, really cold, but she kept me warm until morning. But when they found me…they told me that my dad was in the hospital.”

Arya felt Gendry’s arm tighten around her shoulders, right before his cheek came to rest on the top of her damp head. “He had set out to find me, and they said that he must have been distracted from that because he startled a bull elk. He died right after they got me to the hospital, right after I wouldn’t see him.”

Gendry only whispered her name and continued to hold her. Arya almost found it a relief and allowed her eyes to shut. The crying had stopped now, and with a clearing nose she began to make out the gentle scent of his shirt, the same scent she remembered so distinctly from the night before. He was holding her tightly as his thumb gently stroked her shoulder.

“Let’s get you to see her then. Don’t want to keep you away any longer.” Gendry finally spoke. Arya was ready to jump up right then, but the rumble of Gendry’s chest when he spoke made a very small part of her want to stay. She did move, though, waiting until he moved first and stood up to offer her a hand before allowing herself to be pulled up.

“Right, so, you need a shirt?” Gendry asked quickly and turned around to busy himself in her closet. Arya smirked, and almost didn’t feel guilty about it. A pang still sat in her chest, but she let herself sit on the edge of the bed and watched Gendry fumble through the rack until he pulled out a simple long sleeve v-neck. “This alright?”

This time Arya allowed herself to laugh softly as he held the shirt out behind him. He was obviously not turning back around, so she stepped over and took it from him. The towel was dropped, and she slipped it quickly over her head.

“It’s alright. You can turn around.” When he turned around, she wasted no time in drawing him into another tight hug. Strong arms circled around her and Arya could have sworn that she heard his heartbeat speed up in his chest.

“We kissed last night.” she stated before she could stop herself.

“We did.” he replied after a couple of seconds. Yes, his heartbeat definitely sped up again.

“I’d like to do it again, if that’s alright.” Arya raised her head to look up at him, finding bright blue eyes already looking down at her.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”

He closed the distance before she even had time to move upwards to him. Lips joined, and they felt exactly as they had the night before, although this time neither pulled away as quickly. And, like the night before, it wasn’t very passionate or deep. But Arya sighed softly into it when she felt Gendry seeming to melt against her, just as she was to him.

********************

“Are you sure that you’re alright?”

She hummed and nodded in response.

“Just let me know, ok? I’ll be right here.” Gendry squeezed her hand tighter.

“Alright.” she smiled softly up to him, raising their joined hands to press a soft kiss to his thumb.

The lady who held the door watched with a gentle expression as she held the door open, ushering the small group back into the treatment areas.

Arya found herself breathing a little faster as the woman lead them through to the back rooms. It even smelled like the hospital that her father had been in. Workers in various scrubs bustled in and out of rooms as they walked down the hallway, and Arya held onto Gendry's hand tighter. He was still there, and would be there, just like Toby who kept brushing his body against her leg. They were there for her. The word family appeared in her mind and she wanted very much to push it away and replace it with friends, but family felt so much warmer in her heart, so she kept it there.

They were finally led into a curtained off area. Large metal cages lined one of the walls, the other wall holding smaller cages. A few held animals in various stages of healing, but they were led past all of them, to the far corner that had been cordoned off by dog gates.

"Your girl is so big. We couldn't fit her anywhere else!" the woman chuckled fondly. "I know she could step over those gates if she wanted to, but that's just so other curious friends don't wander too close and upset her. The meds have been keeping her pretty calm."

Arya tried to smile as well, but the act didn't quite materialize. Her eyes were fixed on the grey and white behind the mesh of the gates. A few more steps closer let her peer over and see Nymeria for herself.

Her eyes wanted to drift down the large body to the leg casts and to where fur was obviously missing, but she forced her gaze to remain on the wolf's face. Eyes opened, beautiful golden eyes that brightened as they took her in, and Nymeria thumped her tail weakly against the blankets she had been laid on.

"Hey, Nym." Arya forced herself to whisper. Her voice was beginning to crack, so she said no more and, instead, climbed over the gates and dropped down to the floor.

She knew that Gendry and the woman were watching, but none of it mattered. The sounds, the smells, everything else faded into the background as Arya laid down along Nymeria's front and buried her face in the fur of her neck. She tried her best to be gentle but the need to be closer to her best friend brought her to press herself further until she was lost in the rich musky fur. 

"Nymeria." she whispered, just low enough so the wolf could hear. Tears were rolling freely now and deep sobs caused her to clutch tighter. "Nymeria, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."

Arya felt her pull back and suddenly Nymeria's tongue was lapping gently at her cheeks, replacing the tears with large wet patches. The laugh that came from Arya was like a medicine that flowed through her body, giving her the strength to sit up.

It was then that she let herself take in the entirety of Nymeria's state. Yes, a large patch of fur had been shaved on her side and a large gauze patch was taped over what could only be the sutures from the surgery. Her front left leg was also in a cast, as well as her rear left. But Arya's eyes returned to those golden ones that still watched her closely, and she knew that things would be alright.

"Here's the receipt, Mr. Waters." a new voice made Arya turn her head to the source. A younger girl, probably younger than Arya, was walking quickly down the rows of crates with a piece of paper in hand that she handed to Gendry.

"Receipt?" Arya asked, and watched as he quickly folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket.

Gendry avoided her gaze, instead looking at the blankets under Nymeria. "Yeah. Uh, for her bill." he gestured to Nymeria. 

Arya's jaw tensed and before she knew what she was doing she had stood to her full height. But the young girl, obviously distracted by Nymeria on the floor in front of her, spoke before Arya could. "Ms. Stark, I have some papers you'll need to sign before we can release your...dog."

"Wolf." she corrected sharply, cutting her eyes over to Gendry. Dropping to her knees, she kissed Nymeria on the snout and promised to be back before stepping back over the gates and promptly following the girl.

********************

Gendry's arms were on fire. His legs too, and he just knew that his back wouldn't be right for a while. But he let none of that on to Arya as he carried Nymeria up the flights of stairs to her flat.

Arya hadn't spoken but three words to him when they left the vet, and even fewer when they arrived back at her flat building. Instead, she had climbed up into the bed of the truck and watched as Gendry placed Nymeria beside her before driving them the easiest route back.

Still, without a word, he had stepped out of the truck when they arrived and scooped the drowsy wolf up in his arms to carry her behind Arya, who opened the doors and carried Nymeria's medications.

It wasn't until they reached Arya's flat and Gendry had gently laid Nymeria down in her dog bed that anything else was said.

"So,” Arya began, sitting down on the couch and crossing her arms. “you paid the vet bill.”

Gendry nodded, his own arms crossing against his chest.

“Not only that, but you paid ahead for all of her follow-up appointments.”

He nodded again.

“Why?” She raised her shoulders.

“Because that’s what you do for people you care about.” He said firmly. “And I care about you, Arya. You and Nymeria.”

“That doesn’t explain how you were just able to pull out all of that money from nowhere!”

Gendry sighed. He understood, he really did. Arya was still on edge. Nymeria was home and safe, but the trauma was still fresh in Arya’s veins. She was guarded again, building her walls, but all he wanted to do was to hold her again like he had earlier that morning, when her hair was still wet and she had asked to kiss him again.

“Don’t tell me, your mom left you some kind of huge trust fund.”

“No, but my dad did.” he finally spoke up. Looking up, he found Arya’s eyes wide and blinking.

“You never mentioned your dad.”

“I never wanted to.” he spat out. “I never even met him. He was some playboy tycoon who knocked up my mom and then skipped out before I was born. She told me his name, but nothing else. But then he must have died about the time that she did, because suddenly I’m getting calls from one of his other sons. Apparently, he had some big religious change of heart before he croaked and left all of his kids heaping accounts.”

“And you expect me to believe that you’re just living around here for the hell of it?” Arya half laughed.

“Not for the hell of it; because I wanted nothing to do with his dirty money.” Gendry’s voice was coming out harsher now. He could feel that old bitterness creeping back in, the same bitterness he had harbored the morning he had driven away from his mother’s house because Edric wouldn’t stop calling or sending mail there. “I don’t care what he repented of before he died, he still left me and my mom alone and I didn’t want any reminders of that. But…” he took in a deep breath. “I care about you, and Nym.” He looked down at the wolf, who’s large eyes were fixed on him. “So I called Edric this morning and told him I’d take the money, so I could take care of you guys. If you don’t want me around anymore then that’s fine, but please know that you’re the most special girl I’ve ever met, and I’d do anything for you.”

Arya looked very much like she was about to cry again, and the way she was biting her bottom lip was sure to soon draw blood. But she simply nodded before scooting over and patting the seat next to her on the couch.

By the time evening rolled around Gendry found himself slipping gently off of the couch. Half empty pizza boxes littered the coffee table from their day in. One arm securely holding Arya’s sleeping body off of his shoulder, he moved out just enough to lay her down. It took him no time to retrieve the blanket off of her bed and drape it over her. He stood and watched for a few seconds, telling himself that it was only to make sure that she didn’t wake up, but deep down he knew that it was for nothing more than to take in the softness that took over her face. Once he was able to pull himself away, he carried the pizza boxes into the kitchen before returning to the living room. She was still where he left her.

“You stay again and see to them, yeah?” Gendry whispered to Toby, who was lying loyally beside Nymeria’s bed. The bulldog gave a loud sniff and a nose-lick in return.

Gendry smiled and reached down to scratch behind Nymeria’s ear. The pain medicine had kept her docile and dopey ever since they brought her home, but the wolf still whined low and thumped her tail when Gendry reached down to stroke her muzzle. “Good night, big girl.”


	7. The End of This Tail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know I kinda promised this to be a long chapter, but it seems as though the gang was content to give me a mild ending to present. Thanks so much for your patience in waiting for this chapter! It honestly is a bittersweet feeling knowing that this is the last...

Arya found herself laughing as she pulled up to the front of her aunt’s pet store. Gendry was waiting at the door, and spring out as soon as she had parked the car. With no time given for her to even unbuckle herself, he was opening the door swiftly for her.

“Milady.” he smirked as held out a hand to help her out.

“Must you call me that?” she grinned back as she stood.

“But you are, you’re my lady.” came his sincere reply before pressing a peck to her lips. He was then moving quickly around her to open the back door and the pair watched Nymeria slowly lumber out of the backseat.

The month since the accident had been a hard one, one of frequent follow up appointments and accommodations for the wolf’s decreased mobility. One horrible night had even lead to another frantic visit to the animal hospital when Nymeria began having bad reactions to one of her medications, but all had turned out in the end, and it was finally looking as though she was well no her way to recovery.

“Mi-wolf.” Gendry smirked yet again as Nymeria limped over to him and raised her head for an ear scratch.

Arya could only laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

The walk up to the front of the store was much slower than it would have been. Nymeria still favored her injured side and had to stop every few steps to catch her breath. In the end they made it, though, and Lyanna’s warm smile and Toby’s encouraging presence ushered her into the warm shop and onto a large dog bed that awaited her by the register.

“Thanks again for watching her.” Arya sighed, watching Nymeria make herself comfortable as Toby took up his post by her side. 

“Any time! Any time!” the older woman insisted, stepping over to rub Arya’s back. “They’re no trouble at all. Two fast friends, they are.”

It amazed Arya, standing there looking at two dogs who had once snarled at each other, now sitting side by side and looking at each other as though they were an inseparable pair. It also amazed her still at the pleasant flip of her stomach when she felt Gendry’s arm side around her waist, the warmth of his chest bleeding into her side as he promised Lyanna that they wouldn’t be gone long.

“So, now will you tell me where we’re going?” Arya sighed playfully as they slid into Gendry’s truck.

“Nope. You’ll have to see when we get there.” he returned, reaching over to gently squeeze her knee before pulling out into the road.

The weather was definitely getting colder now, and Gendry quickly switched on the heat in the cab as they rolled past the buildings and houses of the town and out into the outlying areas. The sun was peeking through the thick clouds just enough for Arya to turn her head away from the window, instead choosing to watch Gendry’s large hands on the steering wheel.

“Did you call her last night?” he soon asked, almost in hesitation.

Arya nodded before confirming, “Yeah.”

“And?” His hand slid back over to rest on her knee.

“She cried for a few minutes before she could talk.” Arya said softly. Her own hand came up to rest on top of his, fingers spreading out in between his own. “But we talked for a couple of hours.”

“Good.” Gendry breathed out and flipped his hand to hold hers more properly. “Good.”

“Mum said that she’d be happy to have us all for Christmas.” Arya turned her head up at that, watching Gendry’s head cock slightly before he cut his eyes towards her.

“You...told her about me?”

“Of course I did.” she said with an upturn in her voice. “She very much wants to meet you. And Toby.”

“I...I…” Gendry fumbled, finally surrendering his baffled look to a smile. “Alright.”

The rest of the ride was filled with talks of plans and how long the drive to Winterfell would take and how Nymeria would do in a vehicle for so long. It made Arya’s chest fill with a feeling that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was actually happy at the thought of returning home. It was still the same home that she had shared with her father, the same home that she had returned to after his funeral, the same home that she had driven away from with a promise to never return.

But things were different now. She wouldn’t be returning alone.

The thoughts and emotions nearly kept her from paying attention to the route that they were taking and it wasn’t until they pulled into the all too familiar parking lot that she stopped mid sentence to look with a question over to Gendry.

Gendry only smiled warmly as he slowly drove the truck over to the far side of the parking lot. There, beside the building, two bulldozers were rolling back and forth across the bare ground. The grass that had been present there only days before at Nymeria’s most recent check-up was gone, and in its place was level bare earth.

“What are they doing?” she asked. Gendry kept silent, instead pointing over to a large sign that hung on two wooden posts at the edge of the dirt.

_ Future site of the  _

_ Nymeria Large Animal Wing _

When Arya sat with a gaping mouth was when Gendry finally spoke. “The money left from my dad was more than enough to finance it.” His voice sounded smaller than normal, but Arya still couldn’t peel her eyes away from the sign or the machines. “Won’t be any more makeshift beds on the floor if another wolf comes in.”

********************

Gendry watched the front door of the massive house open wide before they even had a chance to get out of the car. A blur of white and grey and black bounded towards the vehicle and caused Nymeria to whine loudly as she shifted around the backseat. Before Gendry knew it, wet noses were leaving smears on the outside of his own window as the large wolves scrambled to catch a closer whiff of his scent.

They were wolves, all right; a couple of them even bigger than Nymeria. Gendry would have been hopeless had it not been for Arya, who only laughed in that way that he loved as she moved to open her door.

“They’ll be harmless, I promise!”

Gendry could only smile and shake his head.

Harmless to his body? They were. Harmless to his clothing? It never stood a chance against the onslaught of fur that came when he finally gained enough courage to push open his door. Warm soft bodies surrounded him as he stood from the vehicle as four eager faces pushed against his hands and legs. One was white as the snow that dusted the ground around them and seemed content to just have Gendry’s hand on its head, one was sleek and almost dainty in the way she nuzzzled his other hand down her neck, one nearly climbed him as it rose to rest its front paws on Gendry’s shoulders to look at his face, and the fourth, nearly all black and quick as lightning, danced around his legs wildly as though it couldn’t decide what to do first.

“Arya…” he called out, still staring into the golden eyes of the wolf who stood at eye level with him.

Gendry heard her laugh yet again and yell, “Oh come on, you lot!” and he heard the sound of the rear door opening. 

Four furry bodies sprung away from him and joined with the fifth as Nymeria exited the car with as much enthusiasm as she was capable of. She began a frantic whine and turned her head to catch sight of her brothers and sister. All accept the other female joined in the dance around their long lost sibling, herself settling for polite licks at Nymeria’s muzzle. 

But it wasn’t until Gendry turned towards the rear of the car, where Arya was already unloading their bags, that he noticed a sixth wolf walking briskly towards the rest. This was was the largest of the pack, fur a deep grey and proud eyes to go with his confident gait. This one could only have been Grey Wind, Arya’s oldest brother’s dog. He only paused briefly to sniff at Gendry and Arya, satisfying himself that they were alright before continuing to the rest. Like waters the wolves parted for him, and Nymeria looked almost a pup as she wagged her tail and licked fondly at the underside of this one’s muzzle. He responded in turn by nuzzling the top of her head briefly before turning back towards the house, the five others readily following.

Gendry would have continued to watch the happy reunion, but his attention was broken by a happy squeal from Arya behind him. Gendry spun around, faced with the sight of a man with hair the same shade as Arya’s spinning her around, her own arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Welcome back.” the man sighed as he finally sat her down. “Was starting to lose hope.”

“I’ll always come back.” Arya smiled as she kissed the man’s cheek before removing her arms from his neck. “Jon, this is Gendry. Gendry, Jon.”

Gendry nearly expected Jon’s demeanor to harden in his greeting. Instead, he received a warm smile and bright grey eyes as jon extended his hand towards Gendry. “Hello, Gendry.”

“Hello.” he smiled back and grasped Jon’s hand for a firm shake.

“Thank you for being there when none of us could.”

Jon’s words came sincere and Gendry could only nod as he felt Arya’s hand gently rub his back. More may have been said, but soon there was another person bolting down the walk. Though this boy seemed only barely younger than Arya, he flew towards them and swept her up with all of the energy as one of the wolves behind them.

“Arya!” he screamed as he carried her in a full circle around the yard. 

Gendry found himself smiling at the sight of Arya’s 

“Rickon, put me down!” she laughed, gripping his shoulders for dear life until he finally deposited her back beside Gendry. “Now, are you going to give Gendry the same welcome.”

Rickon looked over at Gendry, and Gendry nearly expected another firm handshake...until the boy opened his arms and made to grab Gendry in much the same way. An almost embarrassing sound came out of Gendry as arms circled around him, but he breathed easier when his feet remained firm on the ground and Rickon did nothing more than hug Gendry tightly around the torso.

“We can help with bags.” Jon offered. Gendry thanked him and the two began to unload the luggage.

He noticed then that Toby had yet to exit the backseat and was staring warily at the wolves who now greatly outnumbered him. 

“He yours?” Jon asked beside him. Gendry nodded. “No worries. He’ll be fine with the rest. Anyone who’s a friend of Arya’s is part of the family.”

The tone in Jon’s voice made Gendry think that he wasn’t just referring to the bulldog who was now slowly stepping outside of the car and he walked a little easier after that, finding himself following Jon up to the porch where Arya had made her way and was only just then breaking away from a tight hug with a man who he assumed to be Robb, and turning to lean down and hug Bran in his wheelchair. There was a woman standing off to the side, though, deep red hair standing out against her white sweater. The uncertainty radiated off of her as she watched Arya intently with arms wrapped tightly around herself. It could only have been Sansa, and the way that her face softened when Arya immediately pulled her in for a tight hug as well had Gendry feeling very proud for his girlfriend.

********************

The next Christmas found the Stark family visiting Gendry and Arya in their new flat, this one thankfully on ground level and big enough to accommodate the brood.

Though they had all welcomed him into their own with open arms, Gendry still always found himself watching from the outside at the family gatherings. It had always just been him and his mum, leaving him with very little experience in the department of large families like this. He was content, though, and sipped at his cider while marveling at the way in which Arya could hold three different conversations at once with three different family members. 

Raising his glass to his lips, he cut the sip short when he felt warmth lean against his leg. It was Nymeria, of course, and Gendry whispered a fond “Hey, girl.” as he used his free hand to bury his fingers in the smooth fur of her neck, right behind the reindeer antler headband that she wore proudly on her head. “You think we should do it now?”

Nymeria jerked her head and licked at his wrist. Definitely a yes.

Looking up to ensure that Arya was occupied, Gendry slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, a small gift tag tied securely around it that said  _ “Merry Christmas from Toby, Nymeria, and your fiance”  _

“Go on, girl. Give it to Arya.” he urged, holding the box out for Nymeria. It was taken gently in her mouth and Gendry reached over to sit down his cider, eyes never leaving the wolf as she walked smoothly across the room to where Arya was standing by the kitchen, laughing that beautiful laugh of hers at something that Sansa had said.

It wasn’t until Sansa had nudged her that she stopped laughing enough to see that Nymeria was sitting patiently in front of her with the present.

“What’s this, Nym?” she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes as she took the small box from the wolf’s mouth. Instinctively, she looked up at Gendry, who only smiled and nodded at the box.

Suddenly he was thankful that they had a whole room between them. Maybe she wouldn’t notice how his heart had suddenly began pounding a path out of his chest and how he wouldn’t have been able to speak if someone had suddenly addressed him.

“Merry Christmas,” she began to read off, drawing more eyes in her direction. “from Toby, Nymeria, and yo……” Her eyes shot up to Gendry.

He knew he should be doing something, something important to this, but it wasn’t until her eyes turned back down to untie the string from around the box that the lightbulb went off in his head. The corner of his eye caught Toby walking over to Arya, though Gendry had his eyes locked solely on her face. She opened the box, earning a gasp and a squeal from Sansa and her mother. Arya, however, stayed silent as she slowly drew her face back up to find Gendry in his new position.

It felt as though an entire evening passed around them as they stared at each other, Arya in near shock and Gendry growing ever nervous for her answer. The room had grown silent around them, even Theon watching them with eager eyes. 

But it was Toby who finally broke the trance; Toby in his Santa hat and thick red sweater. Faces turned downwards to him as he began to growl low in his chest, and one by one laughter broke out as they found his teeth gripping tightly to the leather of Arya’s boot in an attempt to pull her towards the man who awaited her.

With a smile, she began to do as he bid, walking slowly across the room towards Gendry. He found himself ashamed that he hadn’t realized the tears in her eyes until she was standing before him. Slowly he rose to stand as well. 

And then his shirt was being grabbed, feeling those same tears wetting his own cheeks as she pulled him tightly against herself and kissed him in a way that had him holding onto her for support.

Around them, Gendry heard the boy’s whistles and cheers, Sansa and her mother’s happy sobs, and two distinct howls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to everyone who has joined me in this fic! And I mean it, every single one of you, thank you for reading, for commenting, for sending me all the adorable inspiration through cat/dog pictures and videos, you all helped to make this possible! Never in my life would I have imagined that my AU about dog parents would be so well received and loved.
> 
> I am very excited to announce, though, that Nymeria and Toby aren't finished! I'm planning a sequel of sorts, coming very soon, chronicling various points in the lives of Gendry as they move forward together with their dogs, so keep your eyes open for that!
> 
> Again, from the very bottom of my badger heart, thank you.


End file.
